Second Chances
by FinalPhantasm
Summary: Saber is freed from her contract to the world and is sent back years before the Grail War occurred. She encounters Chizuru by chance on the very night she starts her new life and is soon swept up into the affairs of the elite and mysterious samurai group called the Shinsengumi.
1. Rebirth

_(A/N: Hello everyone and thanks for coming to check out my story! This is my first time ever uploading my writing to the public so hopefully this isn't too bad. I have not had as much experience as I would like to have as far as writing goes so I hope that the more time I spend here the more I improve. This chapter is mainly introduction but the pace will pick up in the next one. This story takes place after the Heaven's Feel route of Fate and starts at the common route of Hakuouki.)_

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Chapter 1

A cold blast of wind slapped Saber awake from her deep slumber. She shivered and would have wrapped her arms around herself if they hadn't felt so heavy. Her entire body felt stiff as if she had been stuck sleeping in the same position for too long. She wrestled with her eyelids for a moment before at last cracking them open-

-and instantly slammed them shut again when rays of light from the sun, despite its low position in the sky, felt as though they were burning her unadjusted eyes. Just how long had she been asleep? Slowly over the next few minutes she coaxed her eyes open little by little until at last she could squint without too much irritation. The wide array of colors highlighting the sky showed that the sun was setting and it cast a beautiful light across the city she noticed was nearby to her left.

Feeling slowly returned to her rigid limbs and she gingerly coaxed her body off the tree she just realized she had been resting against. The nearby area was both quiet and empty, giving her the perfect environment to collect her thoughts in. She noted that she was no longer in her battle dress, and instead was in her plain clothing that Rin had given her to wear outside of fights. After brushing off the thin layer of snow that had cumulated on top of her she rested back against the base of the tree and shut her eyes for a moment as memories rushed back to her of the events that led up to this strange situation.

For the most part the memories were intact. Everything from Shirou summoning her to their final trip to Ryuudou Temple was still fresh in her mind. Her hands clenched unconsciously as the memory of her final battle comes fresh to her mind. The True Assassin was there and though Saber put up a good fight, she was caught off guard by a shadow of some sort that attacked and consumed her full. Her last clear memory was of Shirou calling out to her one last time. Afterwards, the memories become hazy. Assorted thoughts and feelings brush to the surface and every now and images of some battle or another come to mind but the fragments would slip away as quickly as it came.

Something was bothering her though. Two memories continuously flitted at the edge of her mind, begging her to pull them out and remember them. However, any attempt to do so seemed to send them scurrying away. It was frustrating because they seemed so important. For some reason her thoughts continuously shifted between Shirou and the Grail, but why? What could she have forgotten that mattered so much?

After a moment she took a calming breath and laxed the tension in her hands. Dwelling on such things for too long served no purpose now, especially since she could not make any sense of her present situation. Normally after failing to obtain the Grail she would wake up on the hill of Camlann where she would wait to be summoned to her next fight and this definitely was _not_ Camlann. Since she had yet to complete or cancel her contract that was very telling that something was off.

A frown creased her face as she opened her eyes to gaze upon the snowy city as a shiver went down her spine. Her casual clothing did little to shield her from the elements and if she continued to sit around like this then she would certainly come down with an awful case of frostbite. First and foremost she had to find information on when and where she was. That should be easy enough to figure out.

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The sign posted helpfully at the city entrance stated that this was in fact Kyoto but a quick look around told her that this was clearly centuries before Shirou's time. The houses were very old fashioned and there was no sign of modern technology such as electricity. Behind her the sun was sinking further down into the sky and the temperature seemed to drop with it. After wrapping her arms around herself to conserve whatever warmth she could, she lamented that she might have to spend the night outside unless she finds a charitable establishment willing to take her in. She sincerely doubted she would find such luck.

As Saber traveled further into the city she soon realized that the cold and lack of residence were only two of several growing problems. First of all, everywhere she went she received hard, suspicious glares from the city goers who all made sure to take the extra steps necessary not to get too close to her. The only explanation that made sense was that she just looked so _different_ than everyone here. From the elegant bun her blonde hair was fixed in to her unique apparel, everything stood out as odd in comparison to how the people here looked. She was clearly not from around here and stood out like a sore thumb.

When asked for the location of the nearest inn, several people ignored her questions or outright told her to get away from them. One young man even pointed her in the completely wrong direction and had her wandering around for a good half hour before she realized she had been tricked. She _finally_ located a woman kind enough to give her the correct directions but not without receiving all sorts if scrutiny from the woman's otherwise kind eyes.

By the time Saber reached her destination the sun had disappeared under the horizon which made an establishment like this stick out in the dark. Most of the surrounding buildings had gone dark now that business time was over for the day but the inn was still emitting a soft light as though to guide clueless people like her right to it. The relief that washed through her was short lived as she realized she now had to deal with the fact that her pockets were empty. Sure enough her plan had been a long shot. The inn keeper seemed sympathetic enough to the story Saber told, which involved being attacked by a masked assailant and waking up at the base of a tree with some memory issues, but her words did not carry enough weight with it to get Saber a room for the night. She had offered to help out in any way she could but was turned down instantly. No money, no bed. The look in his eye stated that several people show up with the same sort of "bandits ate my money" story and he wasn't about to buy it from her just because she had better articulation than most people in this city and was a girl. The only thing she had to be thankful for was that the inn keeper did not seem to mind how different she looked compared to everyone else.

After thanking the man for his time, however, something unexpected happened. Just as she turned to leave, his gruff voice sounded through the quiet lobby. "You really gonna walk around at night dressed like that, miss?"

Saber paused just inches away from the exit and turned to him with an affirming nod. "It's all I have. It will have to do."

He stroked his bearded chin for a moment with a look of concern in his otherwise hard eyes. "It's not safe for a young lady like you to travel around by yourself at night."

"I thank you for your concern, but I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can. You have that look about you," he muttered vaguely. "Wait here for a second. I think I have something that can help." Without waiting for a reply he stepped back from the counter and disappeared down the hall. Saber, confused about what was happing, waited patiently for him to return. He did not make her wait long and when he returned he was carrying with him a set of clothing. He pushed the apparel into her hands and nodded to the first door in the hall. "They aren't what I'd typically want a woman to walk around in but at least you won't stick out so much. Don't want to get harassed by any ronin while you're out and about."

Saber turned the clothes over in her hands with a look of surprise before looking back up at the man. "Are you certain I may have these?"

He nodded. "They belonged to my son before he moved out so now they're just taking up space. The kid was always on the short side so they should fit you okay."

"You have my thanks." She quickly went to the room and slid the door shut behind her. When she unfolded the clothes she did not bother to suppress her grimace at how _complex_ they looked. There were no buttons, first of all, so she had no idea how she was supposed to keep the shirt from falling off her shoulders. The pants seemed more straight forward but, all the same, they seemed too loose as well. After her own clothes were off and folded on the floor she got to work on getting these blasted garments to get on and stay on. There were so many strings and not enough loops for them to tie around. The pants fell to the ground every time she pulled them up and she nearly threw them at the wall in frustration. The only thing she could figure out easily enough were the wraps that the man had included to hide her chest from showing its feminine nature through the clothing. If this kept up the wraps may be the only things to conceal her body.

After a good fifteen minutes of the shirt slipping off her shoulder she finally managed to secure it around her body. It was uneven and ruffled, but it kept her covered and that was enough. The pants, too, were finally fastened to her waist and thankfully they looked better than her top did. She picked up her discarded outfit and stepped out of the room at last. The man looked at her patiently and could not hide the small humored grin when he caught sight of her first attempt at eastern fashion.

"I'm sure with enough practice you'll get the hang of it." He ignored Saber's embarrassed frown and tossed a pair of sandals and socks to the floor in front of her. Thankfully, Saber thought in annoyance, those did not require any skill to put on. He looked her over once and gave an approving nod. "You actually pull it off pretty well. Looks better on you than it ever did on my son." He let out a strong laugh before handing her a hair tie. "There's no way to hide your hair but you can at least wear it a little simpler. You should be good to go after that."

She was already pulling the ribbon out of her hair and tugging her hair out of the tight bun she was so accustomed to. It could be awhile before she got to wear the style again, she thought unhappily, before pulling her hair together and typing it into a simple ponytail. She met the man's gaze and he nodded in approval again.

"You look like a pretty man, but a man nonetheless. Congratulations." He gestured to her old outfit that she had stuffed under her arm. "I can get rid of those if you want. Probably not something you want to lug across the city for who knows how long."

She shifted in her spot and was stuck in a rare moment of indecision. This was all she had from her time spent with Shirou and his friends. If she got rid of them then all she would have left were her memories. Her hands clenched around them for a moment before her logical side kicked into gear. He was right, and it was unwise to let her sentiments get in her way. She handed over her only belongings but after a second of consideration kept the blue ribbon that had always kept her hair fastened in place. It came from the time long before she met Shirou, and she felt surprisingly possessive something so simple like this minor accessory. After a moment of consideration she rolled her sleeve up and single handedly tightened the ribbon around her arm.

"Why are you helping me?" She glanced up at him curiously. "Most of the people I have met treat me with distrust, but you do not seem to harbor any of these resentments."

He shrugged his shoulders almost seemed embarrassed. "It's not much. I'd let you stay but if anyone found out it'd be my ass. It wouldn't be right to turn a girl away without helping at all though."

"I am in your debt. I am unable to now, but in the future I promise I will repay you."

He seemed taken aback by the sincerity of her words. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, it isn't much." At that moment, two customers entered the inn, one a man and the other a woman. "I gotta take care of this. Sorry again for not being able to do much but like I said…"

Saber shook her head. "It is more than anyone else thought to offer. I shall take my leave now. Please take care of yourself, and thank you again." She turned in time to miss him gawking at her overly polite way of wording things and stepped out before she drew too much attention to herself. The couple seemed more interested in each other than her, but Saber had the feeling the man was going a lot further out of the way than he let on to help. Perhaps he was working for someone far less charitable than himself.

Saber now wandered aimlessly through the city without a clear goal in mind. It was doubtful she would receive such favorable hospitably anywhere else in the city but she sincerely needed a nice, warm place where she could sit down and have some time alone with her thoughts. So far her only options seemed to include spending the night on a street bench or walking around for the entirety of the night. Either way, she would be stuck outside in the frigid weather, and unfortunately her empty stomach was beginning to gnaw at her.

She cut through an alley when she realized just how muddled her mind truly was. In the midst of all the confusion and frustration since her awakening, she completely forgot to trade introductions with the innkeeper. How would she return his kindness without the man's name? Even the name of his establishment eluded her knowledge. What terrible manners on her part.

Saber had just reached the mouth of the alley and was about to turn around to go back and amend her mistake when she heard the sound of heavy footsteps pounding down onto the street in front of her. She stepped back into the shadows of the building next to her in time to avoid being seen by a young boy who looked about her age run past her. Behind him, three men were giving chase their swords drawn and cruel smiles splayed across their faces. They only had eyes for their prey and didn't even notice Saber as they went passed.

These men obviously intended to harm the boy harm and it seemed the only one around to help their victim was herself, and she was unsure of how she'd fare unarmed against these opponents. Perhaps if she felt in top form mentally and her limbs did not still feel a little like jelly, she would be able to spark more confidence within herself. Nonetheless, she could not leave the young man to face this alone and in an instant she was bounding down the snow covered street after them.


	2. Eyes of Red

_(A/N: Hello everyone and welcome back! Just wanted to that since I am unfamiliar with Japanese honorifics and they weren't used in the English translation of Hakuouki I will not be using them in this story. I am not confident enough that I would be able to use them the right way. That's all for now!)_

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Chapter 2

Saber's light footsteps were drowned out by all the noise the ronin were causing and they remained unaware of her pursuit of them. They jeered at the young man they were chasing and tossed threat after threat at him until the boy took a sharp turn down a side street. The men followed and Saber was about to follow suit when their footsteps came to a halt. She peered around the wall of the building next to her to see them looking rather confounded, and rightly so. The boy they were chasing had seemingly disappeared from sight. If he had any sense, Saber thought, he'd have turned down one of the nearby alley's and found some place to hide until the ronin were gone. Hopefully that was the case here.

She pulled her head back behind the wall and stood still for a moment to listen for what their next plans were. Perhaps they would simply give up and she wouldn't have to reveal herself to them. She listened to them shout a few times down the street that hiding would only make things worse for the boy and he should just give himself up right now. No response was given, of course. After a while their shouting died down and Saber figured they were giving up when-

"Who the hell are you?"

Her body stiffened and she automatically assumed they were talking to her.

"Did you hear me asshole? I asked for your name!"

She peered around the corner again to see the ronin had their attention on three more men who were lazily making their way down the street. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. This was her chance to slip away unnoticed. No doubt that boy had done the same at this point.

The ronin at the head of his trio drew his katana and pointed it at the three newcomers. Through the moonlight Saber could see they were wearing light blue coats and had two swords strapped to their waists.

"Fine you don't have to answer. You'll be dead either way!" With a confident smirk he charged at the first man with a wild swing; intending to finish him in one blow. The blue coated man did not move an inch. He simply watched the ronin come at him, his face blank of any emotion.

It was over in an instant. The ronin slammed his sword through the man's gut and laughed triumphantly as blood pooled out of the wound. He turned his head to his companions to order them after the other two when Saber was hit with a sense of dread. Her instincts told her something was wrong here and rightly so. The man who by all rights should have been dead was still standing on his own two feet despite the sword through his stomach. He didn't even waver. The look on the ronin's face flickered with the same confusion she felt when he realized the same thing. It was too late for him though. The sound of a sword being yanked out of his scabbard was the last thing he heard before the man's blade sliced through his neck. His body collapsed as his head dropped with a muted thud and rolled a little to the side. The ronin's companions were struck dumb by what just happened and Saber herself could hardly believe it.

The man yanked the sword out of his body and looked it up and down as he eyed the red liquid oozing down it. A toothy grin spread across his face as he brought it up to his mouth and slowly licked the blood from the blade as if this were a delicate meal to be savored. A lump formed in Saber's throat and the sense of dread clawing at her mind only increased by the second. As if the situation was not strange enough the men in blue coats began to change. Their hair slowly began to take on a pure white color and even in the dark she could see their now red eyes glinting with madness.

The two remaining men overcame their shock and their swords were out in an instant. Together they ran at these strange men despite the fear they clearly felt in their hearts. Saber was nott sure if she should condemn them for their stupidity or praise them for their bravery.

When the first of the ronin reached the killer of his leader he swung his sword in a powerful strike down the man's shoulder. Blood sprayed out from the blue coated man's body and further stained his own garments with red. However, the attack did not even seem to stagger him. In fact, he seemed to have simply let it hit for the sake of seeing the terror wash through the other man's face. The ronin went in for another attack and this time his sword was batted aside almost lazily. They exchanged blows a few more times before the blue coated man seemed to have enough of this and simply stabbed his blade through his opponent's heart.

With both of his friends dead the last remaining outlaw cowered back in fear of these monsters.

"W-What the hell are you people? Why won't you die?" He shouted at them but it did him little good. Their moths twisted into manic grins and it was clear to Saber that this man was not leaving here alive. He seemed to be thinking the same thing as he let out a pitiful cry before turning around and bolting down the street in Saber's direction.

The crazed man was behind him in an instant and just like that it was over. A sword protruded from his gut and for a few seconds the street was absent of any sound. The sword, wet with its latest victim's blood, was yanked from the corpse of the man as he collapsed to the ground with one final look of terror etched forever on his still face.

The streets were dead quiet and for a moment nobody moved. Saber was about to back away from this massacre when she heard the man's voice for the first time. No words were spoken. Instead, only a crazed laughter escaped his lips.

"Eheheheheheh…"

A wet slicing noise sounded behind this maniac. His two companions had gone into their own states of ruthlessness and were slicing at the corpses of the other men killed. Saber's eyes widened at the carnage she was witnessing and every inch of her body wanted to stop these senseless antics at once. She was not stupid enough to rush in without any means of attack but watching these men carve at the bodies of the deceased was beyond disgusting

The scene was interrupted but a loud crash off to the side of the street. All eyes turned to meet look upon the terrified boy who only moments before was running for his life from street thugs. Behind him Saber could see the boards he had knocked over that created all the noise. He must have been watching the entire scene play out as well and only just decided to leave while he could. Saber his clumsiness under her breath.

All three of the men rounded on what would soon be their fourth victim of the night and in that instant Saber knew she could not stand here and watch another person die by the hands of these silver haired monsters. The one closest to Saber seemingly forgot about the body he was just mangling and began his menacing approach to the boy.

In the same way she had done many times before, she closed her eyes and willed her magic circuits to life. Afterwards she would simply visualize her armor around herself and then materialize Excalibur-

The process was interrupted when a searing pain spread throughout every inch of her body. It took all of her willpower not to scream from the pain as she fell back on the wall for support. Her vision faded in and out while it felt like her blood was boiling inside of herself. Saber glanced around the corner and could pick out the men getting closer and closer to their intended target and she knew that if she took any longer then this would all be for nothing. Shoving her confusion and pain to the back of her mind, her eyes picked out the one thing that could help her now: The sword of the closest dead ronin.

The men were just in front of the boy, poised to strike, when Saber leapt into action. She shot out of her hiding place and only slowed to pick up the sword between her and these men. With it grasped firmly in her hands she shot like a bullet down the street and was on them in mere seconds. Using her momentum she slammed her shoulder full force into the nearest man and smashed him into the wall of the building next to them. In another second she spun around and slashed her sword across the chest of the next man and brought her sword back around in time to block the strike of the third man. Their swords remained locked for just a moment and Saber could feel tremendous strength behind his sword.

Their swords broke away from one another but before Saber cold follow up with another strike her warrior's instinct flared up in her mind. She pivoted to the side just in time to avoid a fatal strike from the second man she attacked and she noted that the man had stopped bleeding. Had his wound somehow healed already? She had seen something similar happen only with herself while she was in possession of Avalon. No creature could be in possession of abilities that rivaled her sacred sheath so if these monsters healed could heal instantly she would have to deal a strike they could not recover from.

By this time all three men had regained their composure from her surprise attack and were closing in on her. Their mad giggling had only intensified and they seemed to be enjoying this more than their previous corpse mutilations. Saber had maneuvered herself so that she was standing in front of the boy. He looked petrified with fear and she knew there was no way he would be able to draw his sword to help her in this fight. He was more likely to lose control of his bladder than anything else.

"If you are unhurt then you must stand up." She kept her eyes ahead of her but she heard the boy jolt in surprise at the sound of her voice. He did not seem to realize until now that his life had been saved. "I will hold them off for as long as possible. Please make your escape while you can." Her voice was calm and level in stark contrast to the chaos around them.

The boy stumbled over his words before answering meekly. "B-But I can't just leave you here." Saber heard him try to get up but his legs must have been shaking too much. He crumpled back into the snowy ground with a small whimper.

Saber narrowed her eyes. "I will only have a lower chance of victory if I must protect you." The stiffened at those words but the conversation was ground to a halt before they could carry on any further.

One of the monsters launched itself at Saber and she barely had enough time to bring her sword up to block the attack before the next one. Blow after blow struck her and it did not take long for her arms to start feeling sore from the nonstop flurry of attacks. She was unfamiliar with eastern weaponry and it was only her years of experience in battle that kept her from being killed on the spot. One of her opponent's strikes landed awkwardly on her blade and she immediately used this opportunity to push back and stagger him. Without a moment of hesitation she stepped forward and drove her blade into his chest.

When she yanked it out the man swayed a bit before crumpling to the ground, defeated at last. She did not have any time to celebrate before the next two came at her all at once. She steeled herself for their attack and glanced to the side at the boy once again.

"If you do not leave now then you are going to _die_." He recoiled from the new authoritive edge in her voice and scrambled up to his feet with newfound strength. He was about to speak when the loud clash of swords rang out through the night once again. It seemed to dawn on him finally that he was only drawing his defender's attention away from the battle by remaining here. He remained where he was for a few seconds more then finally started stepping away from the battle.

"T-Thank you for saving me! We'll meet up later!" With that, he turned around and ran off down the alley. Saber sighed in relief and could not help but think how nice it was when people actually listened to her for a change, unlike a certain red haired Master. Now she could finally focus entirely on the enemies in front of her.

Blow after blow was traded and neither side seemed anywhere close to tiring. They had the advantage of numbers and instant healing but they were lacking as far as self-control went. Despite her inexperience with this sort of weapon and her still aching body she was able to stand her ground with them because their swings were so wild and out of control.

One of their blades managed to nick her arm and this small mistake on her part was turned around in her favor. They howled at the smell of her blood and flew at her in a blind rage. Any semblance of control was lost on them now with the scent of her blood in the air. When one charged straight for her she simply stepped to the side to avoid his all-out attack. She swiveled around in time to slash at the monster's back and when he turned around, off balanced, she drove her sword into his heart like she had done with his companion. He let out a shriek of pain before collapsing to the ground, dead at last.

Now that the fight was one on one Saber made short work of the last guy. His attention was being pulled in the direction of all the blood from his friends and foes alike that he could only block a few of Saber's strikes before she cut him down like the rest of them.

Her heavy breathing was the only sound that pierced the silence now. Blood flowed from the multitude of corpses that littered the street and if Saber herself was soaked with the blood of the men she just cut down. Now that her adrenaline rush was cooling down she realized she must have been wounded a few more times than she though. Thankfully they were only minor cuts here and there, including a long yet shallow cut across her right cheek.

Her back rested against the closest wall to her and she reflected that she was nowhere near her usual strength. It might have had something to do with what happened before when she tried to access her magic circuits. Perhaps she was brought back wrong in this world. Maybe she was still corrupted. It was a sobering thought.

She was about to shove off the wall to attempt to find that boy from before when a familiar warning bell rung in the back of her head. She spun around with her sword up just in time to block the lightning quick strike that surely would have decapitated her if she was any slower.

Her green eyes locked onto the cold blur eyes of her attacker.

It seemed this night intended to only end with her death.


	3. Out of the Frying Pan

_(A/N: Hey guys, hope life's going well for everyone out there :) Happy to say that this chapter is a lot longer than the others. Hope you enjoy!)_

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Chapter 3

It felt like their swords had been locked for years though it had only been a few seconds. Saber saw the slightest hint of surprise cross his face when she blocked his strike before his expression settled into the cold stoic mask of a killer. They separated and Saber jumped back to give herself some distance from this new foe. Her eyes narrowed upon getting a better look at him, for he was wearing the same blue coats as the crazed men she just killed.

"So I see you have come to finish what these murderers started? Your fate will be the same as theirs if you try it." Her voice was as calm as ever as she addressed the violet haired man but there was no mistaking the thinly layered threat behind it. If attacked, Saber would not hesitate to strike him down.

He said nothing in response and made no move to retreat. Instead, his grip tightened on his sword for a moment before making his next move. He closed the distance between them almost instantly and once again Saber barely had enough time to block his strike. This time he followed up with a second strike which she again, narrowly avoided. A small cut opened up on her arm and if she was any slower she would have lost the limb entirely.

The corpses on the ground had been wild animals in comparison to this swordsman. He was clearly a master of his blade and Saber knew her chances of besting him were small in her present condition. If she had her own sword, and if her body was not screaming in protest from all the strain she was putting on it, she knew she would have the upper hand. Regardless, it was not in her nature to give up no matter what the disadvantage. She pressed on and defended herself from each lightning quick blow he delivered as the sounds of their swords clashing echoed through the night.

Saber could not keep this up forever though, and they both could tell that her movements were slowing down little by little. Suddenly, his sword flashed out harder and faster than before. The force behind the strike was so great that it tore Saber's blade out of her hands upon impact. It went clattering to the ground as the man held his blade to Saber's neck in victory. Her hands ached from the power of his attack but she did not let it show.

"You put up a good fight but I am the victor of this match." His cool quiet voice matched his demeanor entirely. She detected no hint of arrogance in his voice.

"You are skilled, swordsman. There is honor in being bested by a master of the blade such as you." He remained silent but inclined his head slightly. His sword remained pressed against her neck. "What do you plan to do with me now? If you mean to kill me then let's get it over with." She settled him in a fearless gaze.

After a few seconds of silence his head shifted to the side. "Vice-Commander, what are your orders?" Her eyes snapped open instantly when he addressed this "vice-commander". She glanced to the side and her eyes widened upon seeing two more men draped in blue coats, each with a pair of sheathed swords attached to their waste. The one with long flowing strands of black hair stepped forward with a hard expression.

"I told you not to use ranks while we're out on patrol." The purple haired man inclined his head in apology. "As for this one, we'll bring him back along with other kid and make a decision together with the others later."

The man who had been silent up until now also came forward. His hair was brown and tied up at the back of his head. His mouth was twisted into smirk and when he spoke his voice irritatingly cocky. "Don't even think about running. As soon as you do we'll kill ya."

It was then that she noticed this man was holding the boy from before under his arm like a sack of potatoes. There was no hint of blood or any wounds so she was sure he was simply out cold. While Saber had no fear of death, she was certain this boy would more than likely fall to pieces when faced with it. A sigh escaped her lips and slowly her hands lifted up to show her surrender. She would at least stay alive long enough to do what she could to keep him safe. The man's cocky grin only grew wider but before she could react something impacted with the back of her head and her vision went black.

* * *

"Psst… are you awake?"

Saber was aware of something poking her legs but tried not to pay it any mind.

"Please… you have to wake up."

Her legs were hit a bit harder this time as if to berate her for not remembering where she _really_ was. Her eyelids cracked open and slowly feeling began to return to her body. A sudden splitting headache attacked her though, and made her wish that she never woke up in the first place. She grunted in pain and tried her best to assess the situation she was in as the memories of last night slowly came back to her.

The men from last night had clearly captured her and taken her back to their base. The room had a single small window that allowed the morning sun to pour its light across the floor and that was really the only notable thing in the room. There was nothing here besides for herself and- wait, who was poking her?

When she tried to readjust herself she discovered her hands and legs were bound tightly; so much that she could hardly even fidget in the restraints. She twisted and turned until she was finally facing the other way -and at this point tangled up in her blankets- to finally see who had been trying to rouse her.

Her eyes met the wide eyed gaze of that kid from yesterday, who let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Saber awake. A quick look over revealed he was unharmed and restrained just as Saber was. She realized that this was the first time she could get a clear look at him since yesterday. His black hair was tied in a ponytail behind him and because his blanket had been mostly rolled away while he himself tried and failed to struggle free, Saber could see he wore clothing similar to her own except they were pink and white. Most of Saber's attention was drawn to his face though. She chose not to make any assumptions for now but she could not help but think it looked a little too feminine.

"Have you been trying to wake me for long?"

He shook his head. "I've only been awake for a few minutes myself. Sorry about waking you up. You seemed tired but…"

She raised her brow upon hearing his voice but made a point of not commenting on it. "Do not worry yourself over it. Do you know where we are?"

The boy tensed up and bit his lip before responding. "I… was unconscious longer than you were but it's safe to safeguess that we're at the Shinsengumi headquarters right now." He noticed the confused look in Saber's eyes and then added on, "They're the ones on the blue coats, remember?"

Ssaber quickly nodded in reply and ignored the look she was getting for not knowing what must be a popular name in these parts. It was not her fault that she was practically born yesterday.

They lay there in silence for a few more moments before the boy spoke up again, this time stuttering slightly with embarrassment.

"Y-You know what? I just realized that we don't know each other's names. I'm Chizuru Yukimura." Ah yes, a very _manly_ name indeed. This was all getting a bit too obvious.

Saber, in fact, was completely aware that they had not exchanged names. She was still unsure about what year she had been inserted into and depending on that, introducing herself as Arthur Pendragon could lead her to some problems. Well, technically it was _Arturia_ Pendragon but it was similar enough to be an issue. She could not remain nameless forever though…

"Saber."

"…eh?" Chizuru raised her brows in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She sighed. "My name is Saber. I am aware of how unusual sounding it is but-"

"That's not your real name is it?" It took all of Saber's will not to cringe. It was a long shot to think anyone would accept a name like that at face value. Before she could reply, Chizuru spoke up again. "Please don't worry, I won't ask any more about it. I'm sure you have your reasons for hiding your true name, and I do owe you for yesterday. Consider it my way of thanking you until I can pay you back for real." He smiled softly at Saber, who could only sigh in relief at dodging that bullet.

"By the way, Saber, I'm sorry for last night."

"Hm?"

Chizuru looked down at the floor in shame as his smile faded away. "You risked your life to save me and all I did was run away and leave you to handle those people by yourself. I didn't even get that far before the Shinsengumi found me. Everything you did was for nothing and you got captured too." She trailed off.

Saber shook her head to stop him from going on. "Think nothing of it. Those men were no normal enemies and if you had stayed I am not sure either of us would have come through that fight alive." Chizuru winced, having found Saber's words comforting in same ways but secretly a little hurtful in others. "What happened after you escaped though? Did the Shinsengumi do anything...?"

"No, they didn't do anything. Well, the long haired man drew his sword on me and told me he'd kill me if I ran. I… passed out after that…" Chizuru looked away, clearly embarrassed.

"Well we can be grateful that they only went as far as threats." Saber let out a sigh of relief. It was then that her ears picked up the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. She cast Chizuru a meaningful glance that put their conversation to a stop.

They only had to wait a few seconds for the door to open. In stepped a kind, plain looking man whose eyes only showed concern for the both of them.

"Good morning both of you. I hope you slept well, all things considered." He bent down by Chizuru and began undoing his restraints. "Here, let me get these for you." Soon both Chizuru and Saber were freed for the most part. Their wrists were still tightly bound but it was miles more comfortable than before. Saber's wounds from yesterday were minor and barely showed through her clothes but lying down in such an uncomfortable position had irritated them. Together, she and Chizuru stood up as the man led them out of their room while divulging more information to them.

"My name is Genzaburou Inoue and I'm a in captain the Shinsengumi. I'm taking you to meet the rest of the captains now. They've been discussing what to do with you both since this morning." Chizuru and Saber tensed and glanced at each other. Inoue must have noticed as he went on, "Don't worry, despite their appearances the Shinsengumi captains are nice men." He ended with a friendly, reassuring smile. The look of disbelief in Chizuru's eyes said she believed otherwise and Saber was inclined to believe him.

* * *

By the time they stopped in front of a set of large double doors Inoue had given them a brief rundown of who they would be meeting and what would be asked of them. For now all they wanted to hear was their sides of the story on what happened last night.

"Just tell them the truth about everything you can remember." He offered Chizuru a comforting look but he couldn't hold the look when his eyes slid over to Saber. She had not only seen everything, but Saber had put a stop to the problem herself which in the end seemed to have only caused more issues.

'_At least Chizuru has a chance of getting out of this alive,'_ Saber thought grimly.

Inoue pulled open the doors and they were instantly hit by the thick wave of tension rolling off the men gathered here. Chizuru wavered in his place before he followed Inoue into the room, followed closely by Saber. They sat in front of the entrance together and waited quietly for someone to speak.

Together, their eyes scanned the room and picked out three familiar faces from yesterday. According to Inoue, the purple haired man Saber fought yesterday was Hajime Saitou, the aggravating brown haired man who was holding Chizuru was Souji Okita, and the addressed as "vice-commander" was Toshizo Hijika.

Okita, unfortunately, was the first break the silence. "Good morning you two! I hope you both slept well."

"Um… It wasn't particularly comfortable." Chizuru chose his words carefully. Saber picked up on a sense of relief from her companion when Okita had spoken up. Despite their situation it seemed a familiar face was all it took to put him at ease.

"Really… because when I came in to check on you earlier, you wouldn't budge no matter where I poked you."

That small exchange sent Chizuru into a stuttering, red faced fit which only made Okita's grin grow wider. Saber let out a small huff of annoyance and out of the corner of her eye she saw Saitou roll his eyes with a similar emotion.

"He's only teasing you. Souji was never anywhere close to your room."

"I was just having a little fun, Hajime." Okita gave him a look of mock hurt but the grin remained. Thanks to Chizuru's reaction, he would probably be the victim of many more jokes from Okita. The way that Chizuru reacted to his jibe was interesting though. She made a mental note of settling her suspicions later.

"I believe there are more pressing matters to attend to than your childish antics." Saber's harsh voice cut through the hall which effectively silenced any further chiding comments. The men gathered in the room each gave her their own version of a hostile glare, except for Saitu, who matched her evenly as far as indifferent expressions went. Hijikata seemed about ready to berate her for speaking to his men like that when off to the side someone a hasty comment to try to diffuse the situation.

"So these are the witnesses from last night huh? They don't look like much." The comment he attached to the end of his statement moved Heisuke Toudou up behind Okita on her list of least favorite people in this country. The boy looked to be about the same age as Saber and Chizuru and according to Inoue was the youngest captain in the Shinsengumi. "Saitou, are you sure these kids took out those three yesterday? They're so skinny." Saber's eye twitched but she remained silent this time.

The man with reddish brown hair in a pony-tail across from Toudou gave him a humorous smirk. "You're one to talk, Heisuke. You look about the same age as them." That had to be Sanosuke Harada from Inoue's description.

"That's right," the man leaning against the wall said, "you're all a bunch of scrawny little brats." The last of the trio to speak was Shinpachi Nagakura. Inoue said these three, Nagakura and Harada especially, were the trouble makers of the captains. Saber could see why right away.

"Ah shut up, you grumpy old bastards." Toudou looked away from them in annoyance. This started them off on their own back and forth banter that only further sidetracked everyone from the matter at hand. If they carried on like this there was no doubt in Saber's mind that they would be here all day.

Despite their foolish antics, however, they still seemed aware of the situation. Every now and then they cast suspicious glances Saber and Chizuru's way. Saber simply shrugged them off but the boy had his hands clamped around his pants fabric so hard she was worried he would tear them.

"I apologize for all of this frightening behavior. Please don't give them the pleasure of unsettling you." His words were meant for Chizuru, as was the warm smile spread across his face. For Saber, he only offered her an inquisitive glance that disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Oh come on, you're the scariest of us all Sannan." Hijikata spoke up, his previous hostility momentarily set aside as he addressed his friend. Sannan laughed back but Saber was hit with a sudden wave of uneasiness when she looked at him. She was not sure what caused it but something about him unsettled her. Sannan met her gaze once again and gave her that same welcoming smile that he gave Chizuru. She bristled in response. It was not that he seemed like a bad person, but rather that he was clearly hiding any of his own hostilities behind that smile of his. Those were often the most dangerous people of them all.

Hijikata, Sannan, and the larger man who until now had been silent, started talking amongst themselves in a friendly manner. The third man, if Saber recalled correctly, was Isami Kondou, the commander of the Shinsengumi. Sannan, too, held a rank of importance but he was only a colonel. Chizuru looked a bit perplexed and when he turned to Saber, she could only shrug in response. Sooner or later they would remember why exactly they were here.

Finally, Kondou quieted everyone down and returned their attention back to the elephant in the room.

"Saitou, can you give us your report on what happened last night?"

Saitou nodded. "Last night while we were out on patrol the men encountered a group of ronin on the streets. Our men went to subdue them but in the fight they became over excited and exposed their failure." At this, he shifted his gaze first over to Chizuru, then to Saber, who it remained fixed on. "When we arrived on the scene we found them slain by the blonde boy. I fought him to a surrender while the vice-commander and Souji retrieved the other boy who was running from the scene."

Chizuru seemed to be an after-thought at the moment while Saber was fixed with looks of disbelief and caution. Those were their men, and they were angered to see them killed by another, but they could not seem to believe it at the same time. Saber was very small in comparison to everyone else in the room and even stood a bit shorter than Chizuru. Nonetheless, she knew her own skill and refused to be looked down on simply because she did not _look _strong

"What he says is the truth. Last night I happened to see the ronin chasing Chizuru and decided to follow along behind them to help him. The rinin encountered your three me, who killed them instantly. They were about to strike my companion down as well before I intervened. However, I sent him away before the fighting started. He saw little of what actually transpired."

Chizuru suddenly spoke in a rushed but quiet voice. "Saber what are you- You can't just take all the blame. They'll kill you!" Saber only shook her head in response. Her life only started here yesterday. Her death would affect nothing.

After a moment of thought, Nagakura spoke up, his words directed at Chizuru. "What's your version of the story?"

"Um… Well the ronin were trying to rob me so I wasn't thinking about much other than getting away from them. I didn't even notice Saber was nearby," she admitted sheepishly. "I tried to hide from them in an alley when those strange men showed up. They saved me from the ronin, in a way."

"So," Nagakura's eyes narrowed, "you saw what they did too the bodies then?"

Chizuru cowered back when he realized she said too much. "W-Well yes but…"

The captains turned to each other and began to speak to each other grimly. Half of them seemed in favor of killing the two of them to keep their secret while the other half was more sympathetic to their plight and less willing to kill them so soon. Saber was surprised to count Hijikata as part of the latter group.

Toudou spoke now with a frown creasing his face. "I think that we should at least let him go." He nodded to Chizuru. "The blonde kid got him out of there before any of the major stuff happened so there's no harm done right?" Perhaps Toudou was not as irritating as Saber originally thought-

"It's not like they know why those guys went nuts anyway, right?"

"Heisuke!" Hijikata snapped at him.

He clamped a hand over his mouth but it was too late. Chizuru's eyes opened wide when he realized he had heard something he was not supposed to. Saber pinched the bridge of her nose while the rest of the captains groaned. Chizuru was so close to getting out of here but of course, something always had to go wrong.

"Well that makes things a little harder. Might as well kill you both now…" Okita's lips were twisted into his usual grin when he broke the silence. He was clearly pleased by the whimper that slipped out of Chizuru but his eyes seemed a little disappointed when he got nothing other than an eye roll from Saber.

Kondou immediately cut him off. "Absolutely not! We gain nothing from killing civilians."

"Alright, alright, don't worry about it. I was only joking,"Okita said quickly and Saber noted how strangely easy it was for Kondou's words to subdue him.

"Perhaps it should have sounded like a joke then…" Saitou sighed beside him, causing Okita to snort and turn away out of embarrassment.

"Well Souji was half right at least." Nagakura stroked his chin. "We can't just let either of them go thinking that the Shinsengumi soldiers are out for blood. If word gets out…"

Chizuru tried to make another attempt to save the situation. "W-We won't tell anyone!"

"Would you be able to keep our secret if you were captured and tortured? Neither of you has any reason to hide this information under pressure." Sannan spoke up again, his earlier smile gone now.

"Well perhaps if your men were not so careless with their words and actions we could have avoided situation this entirely." Once again Saber silenced the room with another cutting remark. She glared at each of them in turn before continuing. "If you must continue this squabble of yours then there is no reason for either of us to stay here any longer. Please send us back to our room before you divulge any other sensitive information to us."

Hijikata fixed her in a cold, menacing scowl before turning to Saitou. "He has a point. Get them back to their room."

Saitou stood and nodded. Chizuru and Saber got to their feet as well before the three of them turned to leave. As Chizuru was leaving she heard a quiet voice behind her.

"Sorry…" He turned to see Toudou looking at him apologetically. Chizuru seemed unsure of what to do so he nodded stiffly in return before following Saber and Saitou out.


	4. Shut In

_(Hey everyone! I'm nearly done with chapter revisions. I've just got the next two chapters to make quick revisions to and then I'll start making new content again.)_

* * *

Chapter 4

Hijikata frowned as thoughts centered on the Shinsengumi's unwilling guests. The room had fallen silent since Saitou led them out and now all eyes were trained on him. It was Nagakura who finally broke the silence. His troubled expression mirrored the faces of the other men gathered.

"Blondie's got a real attitude problem." It was not the priority concern but the complaint managed to break the icey tension in the room. Harada and Heisuke nodded beside him and the youngest of the three piped up.

"Yeah, what's his deal? We captured _him_ and he's trying to act like he owns the place!"

Nagakura nodded vigorously in agreement. "I bet he's some noble's brat from overseas and came here on vacation. I mean, look at the kid! He's all skin and bones!"

Okita chimed in, his usual cat like grin in place. "Yeah but he _did_ take down three furies and put up a decent fight against Hajime. He might have kicked your ass if you were there." Shinpachi sent a glare his way while Heisuke voiced his agreement - and was promptly smacked across the head for siding against his friend.

Harada, who had been quiet for the most part, turned to Hijikata with concern in his eyes. "Joking aside, Shinpachi's right. That guy is obviously a foreigner, and if he is a noble, that could spell trouble for us."

Hijikata nodded. Those very thoughts had been circling his mind for some time now. "We'll have to investigate what he's doing here and where he came from. He could very well be a spy from overseas so we'll need to tread carefully with him."

"What about the other kid? Sure the he doesn't look like much but they were together last night. Maybe he's an informant for the Mr. Attitude."

Sannan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It is definitely a possibility. We should talk to them again, separately next time. The foreigner seems like he'll be a difficult one to get anything out of though."

"Regardless, I want someone keeping watch on them at all times. They could be stupid enough to try and escape so we should be ready for that," Hijikata stated with his usual scowl in place. Honestly, that was exactly what he was expecting them to do and from the looks of agreement he was getting, everyone else had the same idea.

* * *

Saitou left immediately after depositing them back in their rooms. They were not put back in their previous restraints but their wrists were still tightly bound. Chizuru chewed at his lip silently across from Saber, who was watching her roommate with growing interest. There were several observations that Saber had missed out on when she first met Chizuru and she could not help but wonder how she missed such things to begin with. His voice, mannerisms, movements, and looks all pointed to the same conclusion.

"Chizuru, may I ask you something?"

'He' jumped slightly at the sound of Saber's voice. "Hm? Um, yes of course."

Saber met Chizuru's questioning gaze and spoke plainly. "Forgive me for asking, but are you actually a girl?"

The room went dead silent. A horrified look slowly spread across Chizuru's face that instantly confirmed Saber's suspicions. "Wh-Wh-What?! How did- I mean, no I- Well- How-"

Saber raised a hand to silence _her_. "I apologize for causing you discomfort. You have my word that your secret shall remain safe with me."

Chizuru was quite red in the face now and averted her gaze from Saber. "H-How did you know? I'm wearing a disguise and everything!"

"There is more to a disguise than dressing the part." Saber knew that all too well the truth of her own words.

The black haired girl was a fidgeting mess. She had spent days working on this disguise and in a matter of a few seconds Saber had unwound the entire lie. Was it really that easy to see through?

Saber's lips pressed into a frown. She had originally intended on hiding her gender away as long as possible but Chizuru seemed so demoralized it almost seemed cruel to not tell her at this point.

"If it helps at all, I have more experience when it comes to this sort of thing than you do. It's not easy to completely change your identity like this in such a short time. You did well under the circumstances."

"Huh?" Saber only got a confused look in return.

"What I mean to say is that it would be inept of me not to recognize you for what you are when I myself am also in disguise."

That got a reaction alright. Chizuru's jaw hit the floor as she stared at Saber, who looked back at her coolly like she had just given the weather report. "Y-You're a… a girl?! B-But you're so…so..." She struggled to find the right words that would not insult Saber's feminity but could not find any. Saber played the part of a male so well; maybe it was a joke? She cast her uncertain gaze over the blonde, who up until a second ago only seemed like a pretty man. Now he-she was actually a masculine woman?

They sat together in silence for a few moments before Chizuru began to laugh shyly as her blush receded slowly. Saber gave her a questioning look so she explained. "W-Well I had been a little concerned. We spent the night in the same room..."

"I see." She nodded in understanding. A frown creased her face when a thought occurred to her: If she saw through Chizuru so easily then perhaps some of the captains had as well. The comment Okita made about poking Chizuru was very telling that he knew. At the thought of brown haired man she realized that they may have been put in the same room as a joke. That irritable man would certainly enjoy any chance he could get to embarrass Chizuru.

"May I ask what your reasons were for dressing like a boy?" Saber's question successfully distracted Chizuru from her embarrassment.

"My father came to Kyoto about a month ago for work. He was sending letters almost daily to tell me how things were going but suddenly they stopped coming without explanation. I got worried so I came here to find out what happened." She bit her lip again. "Kyoto isn't the safest place for a girl to walk around though so I figured it'd be easier this way."

Now the innkeeper's actions made more sense to Saber. If a woman was caught wandering around Kyoto streets on her own then she would surely run into trouble. How unfortunate that they must be heckled like that.

"It was a good plan. I'm sure you fooled most of the people you passed by on the street." Chizuru smiled at Saber's encouraging words. She was just starting to feel a little useless, especially compared to Saber, who was both stronger and prettier even when dressed the way she was.

"Moving along, we need to plan on what to do next." The mood shifted to a more serious note and Chizuru pushed her troubled thoughts aside for now.

"I was thinking we could tell them why we're in Kyoto. Like I said, I'm here to look for my father and I'm sure you have your reasons as well-" Saber shifted her eyes away and said nothing. "O-Or maybe we could tell them we're actually girls. They could change their mind about killing us if they knew we aren't men?"

Saber thought about their options for a moment. "I think that either option has a good chance of saving you. I, however, have proven to be more of a problem. I killed their men while they were in some sort of maddened state and clearly that is supposed to be a secret. I'm certain the Shinsengumi would kill to keep word from getting out." Her frown deepened at what she was about to say next. "Another thought has occurred to me. I am unfamiliar with this area and I was not even aware of the Shinsengumi's existence until yesterday. You seem to harbor quite a bit of fear towards them. Tell me, would you feel safe entrusting them with the knowledge of your gender? How do you know they will… respect you?"

The girl flinched at the implications Saber suggested. "I-I guess I don't know that they will. They don't seem like they're that bad though…" Her bound hands clenched up nervously. "Wh-What about making a run for it? If you're right about them not letting you go no matter what, then I wouldn't feel right about getting away alive if you die."

Saber glanced to the door. "They most likely have guards posted around the room. Without a weapon, I fear I would not be able to fend off trained swordsmen like them." She thought about it for a moment before continuing, more so to herself than Chizuru. "I doubt I would be let off so easy if I simply sat here and waited to die though." If only she had some time to herself so she could investigate why she cannot access her magic circuits. If she could fix the issue then there would be no issue in escaping. "Please do not concern yourself with my wellbeing. I have no reason to be here and therefor am not worth risking your life for."

Chizuru shook her head. "No, we're both making out of here alive. I won't leave you behind again."

It seemed she was unwilling to budge on the issue. With a sigh, Saber stood to her feet and motioned for Chizuru to do the same. "We'll try to make a run for it. You must do everything I tell you to do without hesitation though. That means if I tell you to leave me behind then I will expect you to comply. Do you understand?" The girl had a stronger will than Saber had originally given her credit for.

Inwardly, Saber was not certain this would work. The Shinsengumi captains were buffoons, yes, but they were also a specialized police force clearly filled with master swordsmen. If they stuck around then those men would surely kill them, but running away could just as easily seal their fate.

She watched Chizuru reach to slide the door open when-

-someone on the other side opened it and Chizuru ran face first into Kondou. An uncomfortable silence settled across the room. Kondou looked down with surprise etched in his face until realization dawned on him what they were. He was a few seconds too late in understanding, unfortunately.

"Chizuru, let's go!" Not wasting another moment Saber barreled past him and managed to knock him off-balance even with her smaller frame. With Chizuru following close behind, she raced down the hall to where she thought the exit was- though she could not be too sure about where she was going- when she heard a cry of surprise from behind her. She spun around to see Sannan had Chizuru's arm clasped in an iron hard grip and any hint of that first welcoming smile he gave her was gone now. On instinct, she swiveled back around in time to narrowly avoid being seized by Hijikata. Throwing caution to the wind, she charged him with her shoulder and ran him right against the wall behind him, effectively knocking the wind out of him.

"You asshole…" He managed to growl out. He was on her in a matter of seconds. Before she could do anything he grabbed her by the arm and slammed her against the wall with his sword drawn and placed at her neck. "Didn't I say that if you tried to run I'd kill you?" Each wheezing breath he took shook his entire body but his hold on her remained firm. Saber ignored the blade at her throat and only gave him a cold, defiant glare.

Behind Hijikata she could see the rest of the captains had gathered around Sannan and each one of them was exuding hostility, except for Okita of course, who seemed to find something about this funny.

"Well kids, looks like we can't trust you after all. We've got no choice but to kill you, sorry." Okita's grin widened and he did not look sorry in the slightest. Beside him, Chizuru froze up when his hand drifted over to his sword.

"Stop!" Hijikata narrowed his cold eyes into an intimidating glare which, of course, failed to affect Saber in any way. "The idea to escape was mine alone. Do whatever you like to me; just let him live." At this, she saw something shift in the commander's gaze, but whatever she had seen was gone as soon as it had appeared. Okita's hand had paused over his sword and the rest of the men looked at Hijikata expectantly, Kondou included. Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by Chizuru's shaking voice.

"N-No, p-please understand! We were just afraid of being killed!" Hijikata cast a look of doubt at Saber's undaunted face. Fear was the last emotion he could imagine on her hard features. "At least hear us out about why we came to Kyoto. Give us a chance!"

"I could consider letting you live for a little while. We've all been wondering what could possibly be so important to make a girl like you wander around the street dressed as a boy," he ignored Chizuru's startled squeak, "but this one has caused us enough issues. There is no reason I shouldn't cut him open right here and now."

Saber offered him a small, uncaring shrug as she watched the captains behind Hijikata react to the information he just revealed. Okita simply laughed at Shinpachi and Heisuke, whose eyes were as wide as saucers. Words tumbled out of their mouths in a nonsensical fashion while Harada stroked his chin and said something about suspecting something was odd about Chizuru. Kondou had turned red in the face and was mumbling embarrassedly to himself while Sannan simply smiled in amusement as his friends over reacted in their special ways. Saitou, of course, simply watched them all without even twitching. He most likely knew the entire time as well. Poor Chizuru was caught in the middle of all of this and was looking more overwhelmed by the second by the loud men around her.

Hijikata's brow twitched as the banter intensified. With one last groan he sheathed his sword and dragged her roughly by the arm over to the others. "Saitou, I want you to stay here to question him. If he tries _anything_ you have my permission to kill him. The rest of you are coming with me to hear what the girl has to say." Saitou nodded in response and with that, the vice-commander shoved Saber back into the room she just escaped from and stomped away with the rest of the captains following along behind him- along with the unwilling Chizuru who was being led along by Sannan as though she were a child.

* * *

Saber sat across from Saitou as their cold, emotionless eyes bored holes into each other's heads. The thick tension would have suffocated any lesser being who had the unfortunate luck to come across them. Saitou finally broke the silence with his quiet yet hard voice.

"I'm going to ask you some questions. You will respond truthfully or else I'll kill you. I _will_ know if you attempt to lie to me." Saber inclined her head and said nothing.

"What is your name?"

"Saber."

He frowned. "I told you not to lie."

"Does it appear to you that I am lying?"

Saitou studied her face for a moment. "No, but you are not giving me the entire truth either."

"I have gone by this name for some time now. It will have to suffice."

"It is not up to you what will "suffice"." He narrowed his eyes but could see he would not get any further with that subject. "What country did you come from?"

"England."

"What business does an outsider like you have in Kyoto?"

Saber's mouth twitched downwards as she thought the question over in her head. He got the impression that she herself was not sure of the answer. "I was forced to come here."

"There is more to it than that I'm sure."

Was there? Since Saber woke up at the base of that tree she was barely given any time to think about her situation. If she was not fighting silver haired monsters in an alley then she was being interrogated and threatened by a dangerous samurai force. His question was far more complicated than he thought.

"I came here because an acquaintance of mine required my assistance in an important matter. However, we were separated when I was attacked by an assassin. That is the last thing I remember before I woke up outside of Kyoto." No part of her story was a lie but she would have to be careful to hide any and all details of magic from him.

Saitou's piercing gaze searched for any hint of deceptio. It was clear that Saber was leaving out a large amount of what actually happened. Even though what she did say was true it was not enough information. "How strange that an assassin would target you. Are you a noble in back in your home country?"

"…Yes, I am." That was a topic she definitely wanted to avoid.

"Then did the assassin come here to stop you before you returned home to take back what was yours? Are you here to gather troops to attack your homeland?"

Her hands clenched up into fists as she leveled him in her stern gaze. "I would _never_ rise against my country in such a way. I would sooner die."

The fire in her eyes took Saitou by surprise. His expression softened slightly. "I apologize for insulting you." She nodded after a moment to show she accepted his apology and her stature relaxed a little. The question struck a chord in her and brought up emotions she was not even aware she had.

"So then, what is your connection to the girl? Is she related to the matters that brought you here?"

"No, she is not. I only just met her yesterday night."

"I see." He paused for a second. "It seems Souji was wrong after all."

"What do you mean?" Saber's voice lowered suspiciously.

Saitou frowned and seemed a little unwilling to explain. "He assumed you and her were intending to… spend the night together."

The vein in Saber's head that seemed reserved for throbbing only when Okita was involved felt like it was about to burst. "He would say anything to get a rise out of a person. No, Chizuru and I were in the same vicinity only briefly before I had her escape." She glowered at him when realization dawned on her. "I'm assuming it was his idea to put us together in a room then?"

"… Yes. Hijikata and I were opposed to it but we had other matters to attend to. Since you were both out cold we assumed it would be fine."

It would not do Saber any good to keep letting her anger rise at everything that man did. He obviously enjoyed their reactions far too much so it would be best not to react at all. Saitou offered her a surprising smile, having guessed her thoughts. The gesture, though small, calmed her nerves. It struck her then that they were not speaking to each other like they had been a minute before. They were like friendly acquaintances trading banter on mutual friends. He must have realized the same thing and quickly brought the conversation back to business.

"So what are your plans now? Do you intend to search for your friend or will you return home?"

"Neither. He would be impossible to find and… I do not have a home to return to anymore. Honestly, I have no idea what to do even if you let me go." A forlorn look crossed her face when the truth of that statement struck her. Whoever, or whatever, canceled her contract had simply dropped her here with no instruction. Judging by the technology present here she could not be far from her original timeline but even if she were to return to England and be recognized, there would be no happy homecoming to her. She brought her country to ruin, after all.

"I think that's enough for now. I'll report to the commander now and we'll see what he decides." He stood to his feet, his face as impassive as ever but Saber detected a hint of kindness behind his words. He could see how lost she truly felt and any suspicions he had were unfounded, for now, anyway. His trust in her raised a feeling of guilt in her stomach. There was one fact about herself she had been hiding this whole time, and with Chizuru's secret out it hardly seemed fair for Saber to keep this hidden. If they do let her live, the fact that she kept it a hidden could come back on her later.

"There is one other thing I believe you should be made aware of."

He turned back to her just as he was about to leave. "Yes?"

She held his gaze for a moment as she mulled over exactly how to put this. "Chizuru and I are… well, we are the same."

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

She sighed. It seemed she would have to say it plainly.

"I am a woman, Saitou." The room fell into an awkward silence. Saitou's aitou's brow twitched as he eyed her up and down skeptically. He frowned and looked about ready to accuse her of lying when he took one final good look and froze. His eyes widened and he turned away from her immediately.

There was a forced calm in his voice when he spoke. "I will make my report to Hijikata now. Thank you for telling me." He stepped out of the room and quickly slid the door shut behind him. As he walked away from Saber's room his hand fidgeted with the scarf around his neck.

He could still hardly believe it. Saber simply looked like a feminine man. How could this have slipped by him? His hand tightened around his scarf one last time before it dropped to his side and he resumed walking down the hall in his usual manner. Souji would never let him hear the end of this.

* * *

Inoue was just leading Chizuru out of the common room when Saitou arrived. The two captains exchanged a short greeting as they passed each other before Saitou slid open the door to the room where the rest of the captains were seated. He took his usual place next to Okita and listened to the captains discuss what information they got from Chizuru.

Okita elbowed him in the side and smirked. "Learn anything good?" His voice was low enough that only the two of them could hear it.

His mouth twisted into a frown. "You have no idea."

Okita let out a low whistle in response and left it at said nothing more. After a few more minutes of discussing Chizuru, Hijikata turned to address Saitou.

"That didn't take as long as I thought it would. Give us a report on what he told you."

Saitou's brow twitched at the inaccurate pronoun usage but he put off his correction for now. He repeated everything he learned from Saber while the captains listened intently to his every word. When he finished recounting all the details, with the exception of one, the other captains all shared the same anxieties.

Heisuke spoke first. "You know, even if she didn't tell a single lie we still don't know much about him. What kind of name is Saber anyway?"

Harada shrugged. "It definitely sounds western but I feel like it's probably a title rather than a name."

"Perhaps if we used more forceful methods we could get him to reveal more." Sannan glanced at Hijikata and Kondou to gauge their reactions.

Hijikata frowned and looked back to Saitou. "Do you think that would work?"

Saitou thought it over for a few seconds before responding. "No, I doubt torture would yield any results. If she doesn't want to tell us then I believe she would go as far as dying to keep her secrets."

Nagakura rolled his eyes. "Damn these stubborn types. They always have some stick up their asses- wait, what did you just say?!"

"H-Hajime, quit playing around." Heisuke stumbled over his words. "Damn, that is a sick joke you are trying to play on us, especially after nottelling us about Chizuru."

Next to Saitou, Okita was rolling with laughter. "Hajime, when you came in here with that sulky look on your face I knew something good happened. I never thought…" He trailed off and simply started laughing again.

"What the hell man?! How long did you know this time?" Nagakura looked like he was ready to rip his hair out while wondering how many other men were actually women in disguise. Deeper down, he had a similar anxiety about the women he came into contact with. How many of them were actually _women?_

"…She just told me a few minutes ago."

Sannan and Hijikata both seemed equally annoyed at this latest bit of information but neither of them said a word. Instead, Kondou was sputtering to them both in a panic.

"First Chizuru and now Saber? Is this a new thing among women now?" Kondou rubbed his palm down his red face. "Saber doesn't even look like a girl though… are you _sure_?"

Saitou nodded stiffly. "Yes, I'm positive."

Harada smirked. "She's a lot better at it than Chizuru, that's for sure. Anyone who can fool you like that has some serious skill."

Okita's grin grew wider. "You know Hajime, she's like a female version of you. Anything could happen now…"

Saitou's face tinted red and he could only cough awkwardly in response.

Hijikata sighed and motioned for the men to settle down. "Whether she's actually a girl or not doesn't change the fact that we need to decide what to do with her now. So if we could try to stay on track for a little while, that would be wonderful."

* * *

When the door to Saber's room slid open an hour later, Kondou, Hijikata, and Saitou stepped through to find Saber sitting in the same position as when Saitou left her earlier. Her eyes were closed, her head was bowed slightly, and her breathing was soft and relaxed. Her appearance may have been admirable if they had not thought she was a man for most of the day - and if Saber had been less troublesome. It was only when they took a seat in front of her that she opened her eyes to greet them. Saitou was back to his usual self, and Hijikata had on his typical scowl. The only one who seemed to actually want to be here was Kondou, who was particularly red in the face. Every time he looked at her he only seemed to grow more embarrassed.

"Saitou told us everything." Kondou rubbed the back of his neck. "To think you and Chizuru had us fooled the entire time… You girls are a tricky bunch." He chuckled to himself. "I thought you both looked a little feminine but wow, even now I have a hard time believing it!"

Saber quirked her brow in response. "My gender hardly matters in the grand scheme of things. If it is so hard to believe then you may feel free to think of me as a man. Alternatively, I _could_ prove my gender-"she was cut off by the strangled noise that escaped the man's mouth.

He jumped up and practically yelled, "Don't even suggest such a thing! A lady such as yourself shouldn't-"

"Kondou, we have more important things to deal with. We'll just have to take his- her word for it." Hijikata himself seemed a little dubious while Saitou remained stoic and silent on the other side of Kondou. To Saber's trained eyes, it seemed that he was putting almost too much effort into appearing emotionless.

"As I said before, my gender means little in this situation. Please do not let it influence your decisions."

Hijikata ignored the still stuttering Kondou, who had taken his seat once again, and brought the conversation back on course. "After talking to Chizuru we found out her father is the same man we've been trying to track down for a while now. We've decided to keep her here under our protection while the search for Kodo Yukimura is ongoing."

"That is very kind of you." The Shinsengumi's kindness was a little surprising but completely welcome.

"As for you, _Saber_," he said her name like it left a bad taste in his mouth, "we can't allow you to leave. Some of the captains think it would be easier to just kill you to but you have enough people leaning in your favor for us to hold off on that for now." The look he suggested he knew _exactly_ why matters were in her favor. She had a feeling she knew why as well. "Also, it seems Chizuru won't be as cooperative with us if we get rid of you like that. Consider yourself lucky."

Kondou spoke next after finally regaining his composure. "You'll be confined to your quarters under constant watch." He gave her a sympathetic look despite these being his own orders. "You are only allowed to leave under the supervision of a captain." He paused to rub the back of his neck again. "Also, we need you to keep yours and Chizuru's gender a secret. If word got out we have women staying here things could be bad both for you and the Shinsengumi as a whole. I know it's a hassle but I have to ask that you keep dressing that way while you're with us."

She frowned as she mulled over these conditions in her head. Normally she would fight tooth and nail to escape the confines of her enemy, but she could hardly consider these men enemies in the first place. Their terms were quite gracious in fact, considering everything that happened. Plus, she was in no condition to fight her way out of this compound. This arrangement, while restricting, did give her some place to plant her feet. If she made it out of the compound she would have nowhere to go.

After a moment, Saber bowed to the men gathered in front of her. "These terms are very gracious. I understand the difficult position I have put you in and your hospitality is most welcome." Hijikata snorted in response but her words seemed to have calmed his frustrations a little. "And Kondou, do not worry about me. I am spent most of my life hiding my gender away from the people around me. I am grateful that you care but I feel most comfortable when treated as a man." She finished by offering him a tiny smile.

Kondou looked surprised to hear that, and a little sad too. He nodded to her and when he caught sight of her smile he quickly turned away to whisper something into Hijikata's ear. Saber swore she heard the word "adorable" but she must have misheard him.

They left the room together after that. Now that it was quiet again she nearly missed the fact that Saitou still had yet to leave. She raised a questioning brow at him.

He walked around behind her and knelt down. "I'll undo these for you." He reached out and began to untie the bindings on her wrists. After a few seconds she felt them loosen and come off. She breathed a sigh of relief and stretched her arms out in front of her. They had been tied for so long it felt good to be free at last.

"Thank you, Saitou."

He nodded and over to the door. "I've been instructed to take you to your permanent quarters. Follow me."

She stepped out of the room with him while rubbing her wrists which were red and irritated from being bound so long. Saitou did not seem to notice, or more likely, he did not care.

"Saitou, why were you chosen to do this? Considering how little Hijikata trusts me I would think he would escort me himself."

Saitou looked back at her as they walked. "Hijikata felt you would most likely get into a fight with anyone else that could have escorted you, himself included." She caught the underlying meaning in his words: Nobody liked her. Saitou was just level headed enough not to quarrel with her like the rest of them would.

"Hm, well if I am to stay here indefinitely then I will have to make peace with the other captains. Meeting under such unique circumstances gave little room for pleasantries."

He turned his head to face forward again. "I am glad to hear that. They are a good group of people despite their appearances."

They fell into silence after that. Hijikata definitely had a point about them getting along. Saitou did share immature streak that most of the other captains seemed to possess. He kept a level head and did not let his emotions complicate things. He reminded Saber of herself in several ways.

When they came to a stop outside of what Saber presumed would be her new living quarters she realized that she might not be on this side of the door again for a long time. Hijikata seemed intent on keeping her locked up, and while he said she could leave if there was a captain with her, the way he said it implied he would prefer she not even bother asking.

"We moved you closer to the captain's quarters. The chance of an incident occurring this close to our rooms is rather low."

'_An incident such as me attempting another escape._'

Their eyes met and she guessed the same thing passed through his mind in that moment. Saitou slid the door open and motioned for her to enter. "Someone will come to bring you dinner later. Otherwise, you will remain undisturbed." He slid the door shut behind her and left.

The first thing Saber noticed about the room was that she was not alone in it. Chizuru sprung up from where she had been sitting when she caught sight of Saber with a happy smile splayed across her face.

"Saber!" She ran up to the blonde with excitement shining in her eyes. "I'm so glad you're here! They didn't tell me what they were going to do with you and I was so worried."

Saber bowed her head and returned Chizuru's smile with one of her own. "They have decided to spare my life. Their terms were that I remain in the compound at all times and never leave my room."

"Oh, you got the same deal I did." Chizuru let out a sad laugh. "I thought it would be pretty lonely but," she perked up again, "if you're here with me then it shouldn't be so bad."

They spent some time discussing what happened after they were separated earlier. Chizuru was made Hijikata's page -despite his vehement protests- and would be assisting him in any matter he required her for. Chizuru doubted he would ever actually ask her for something. The position was more for formality than anything else.

In the end, their stories reached the same conclusion: They were both to stay put and shut up until any leads on Kodo Yukimura were found. Any mistakes on their part would result in swift punishment.

The rest of the day passed dully without incident. Saber was a naturally quiet person and Chizuru was very shy. Together they quickly realized that their conversations would be limited. Inoue arrived with their dinner in the evening and with little else to do they went to bed soon after eating.


	5. A Little Trust Goes a Long Way

_(A/N: A big thank you to everyone who's fav'd, followed, and reviewed so far!)_

* * *

Chapter 5

~One week later~

"_-er"_

_There it was. That voice had been calling out for some time now. It was too quiet to understand but she felt like it might be meant for her._

"_Sab-"_

_It sounded so familiar. Why couldn't she recall who it belonged to? _

"_-ber"_

_She needed to see them. Her entire being ached for just one glimpse but surrounding her was only a darkness that rolled on infinitely._

"_Sabe-"_

_She wanted to call out to them but her voice refused to work._

"_Saber."_

_Suddenly, he was there. In all the darkness he was like a beacon of light before her. She was vaguely aware of her legs running to him and only stopped when she was just a foot away from him. She wanted to reach out and touch him but her arms felt like jelly. He placed his hands on both of her shoulders and smiled in that kind, familiar way._

_But… why was there so much blood? It definitely was not there before but now his white and blue shirt was soaked in the red liquid. She tried to ask what happened, tried to do something, anything to help. But she could only stand there and watch for some reason. His grip on her shoulders tightened and then she realized that it was not his blood on his shirt. Whose was it?_

"_Saber."_

_He said her name again. Why won't he say anything else? His eyes were so kind but they were full of regret as well. She finally reached out with all the strength she could muster and brushed her fingers against his cheek._

"_Shirou…"_

* * *

Saber's eyes snapped open as she lurched up out of her sleep. Beads of sweat poured down her face as her breathing came in short, heavy gasps. Her hand clutched her chest tightly, which for some reason ached at the mere thought of the dream. Quietly, she pushed her blanket off, got up, and walked over to the window which gave her a good view of the surrounding yard and the moon that illuminated the grounds. She rested her head against the wall next to the window as she ran her slim fingers through her loose strands of hair unconsciously.

It made no sense to dream of Shirou now. Certainly they shared a bond in the Grail War as Master and Servant but that was all they amounted to. She shook her head as if to dispel those thoughts. No, they had formed a friendship despite being together for a short amount of time. It would be a disservice to him if she tried to detach herself from that fact. Why though, did he look at her with such grief stricken eyes? What happened that would make him act like that? She stared down at the hand that had just barely managed to touch him. It was clearly a dream and nothing more, but she could not help but want to believe that really was him. After spending a week trapped up in this room any familiar face from that time would have been welcomed, more so Shirou than anyone else.

She glanced back at Chizuru's sleeping form across the room and slowly the tension drained from her body. If only she could feel as peaceful as Chizuru looked. For her, the fifth Grail War was only a week ago, and the fourth War only felt like a few weeks ago. The struggles she was forced to endure through both wars were still fresh on her mind, and while she would never admit it to anyone else, still weighed heavily on her. They were not ever present in her thoughts but in quiet moments like these where her mind was free to wander she had trouble keeping her mind clear.

After all, even without thinking about the wars she still had other issues that required her attention such as her situation with the Shinsengumi.

Even if she lived a long life here what would she spend her time doing? Most of her life was dedicated to her country and obtaining victory over her enemies. She had originally sought the Grail to grant her the wish of undoing her reign but for reasons that she could not put into words, that wish no longer held meaning for her. Her heart was not at peace, but rather there was a cold acceptance of the events that played out.

Now that she no longer desired the Grail, was a repetitive confined life all that she would amount to here?

She let out a soft chuckle at the thought. _'From king to prisoner just like that. It hardly seems fair.'_

* * *

When Chizuru awoke in the morning, just like every other day of the week, Saber was already dressed and sitting toward the back of the room in quiet meditation. The first few times Chizuru felt a little strange about always waking up second but Saber assured her that there was no need for their sleep schedules to match as Saber got up early simply out of habit.

"Good morning Saber. Did you sleep well?"

Saber opened her eyes slightly and nodded in response. Chizuru stifled a sigh. She would need a little longer to get used to the quiet part of Saber's personality. After a few moments she was all dressed and ready to start the day which, unfortunately, consisted only of a few more activities than Saber's did. The other men sometimes had her run errands but otherwise she was stuck in here for a majority of the day. She was becoming depressed by the dullness of sitting still all the time and she felt bad for Saber, who had it far worse than her. Her roommate stuck out so much and on the few occasions she was around the men they all eyed her with suspicious glares. Saber seemed to shrug their hostilities off without a second though but surely she had to be hurt by their treatment of her.

One of the soldiers arrived with breakfast not long after and they had their typical silent meal. After they finished, Chizuru decided that she was ready for a change of pace in their quiet routine. "Saber, do you want to go for a walk?"

Saber raised her brow. "You know I am not allowed to leave my room whenever I please, Chizuru."

"I know that but you've barely left all week. It's bad for you if you just sit around all day."

Chizuru had that stubborn face of hers on again that clearly said she was not going to back down any time soon. Truth be told, Saber did not have the will to resist her today. After her rough awakening that night she did not even attempt to go back to sleep. She was exhausted and perturbed about being cooped up here every day. After several more seconds of being caught under the girl's gaze Saber let a sigh escape her lips. "Very well then."

The other girl looked quite pleased with herself and led the way outside. Saber could not help but felt a little bad for her. She must have been thrilled at first not only to find out she would not be alone all day, but that she would be sharing a room with a female as well. It was a golden opportunity since every other person here was a man. However, Saber was neither a talker nor the typical girl. Lately, Chizuru was happier when she was out and about doing the small errands she was tasked with rather than being stuck with her. She tried to hide how unhappy she was but it was clear that Saber's lack of social skills and female qualities were wearing on the girl.

"Saber, I have a special reason for wanting to walk around today."

"Oh?"

Chizuru fiddled with the hilt of the kodachi at her side which the Shinsengumi let her keep it for some reason. Saber suspected it was because Chizuru may not actually know which end goes into the enemy. "It's been a week since we got here and I haven't been allowed out to look for my father. I thought that maybe I could ask one of the captains for permission." She hesitated before continuing. "Do... do you think they'll let me?"

Saber mulled the idea over in her head. "I doubt they will be completely open to the idea but I doubt they have made any progress looking for your father on their own. Perhaps they will allow you to go out for a different approach at the search." Chizuru's eyes lit up with hope and she quickened her pace.

After some wandering around they found themselves in the courtyard. At the other end they saw Okita and Saitou talking together. The captains looked over when the girls drew closer, their gazes hardening slightly upon seeing Saber.

"Ah hello Saber. Fancy seeing you out of your room." Okita smirked. "Finally decided to let us kill you?"

Saber managed to hide her already growing irritation with the man as Chizuru hurried to speak up next to her. "N-No I asked her to come with me. Hijikata said we can't go anywhere unsupervised so as long as you're here then…"

"That's not how this works, Yukimura." Saitou's cold gaze made Chizuru take a step back but she would not back down.

"I-I just wanted to ask you something. We'll go back afterwards, I promise."

Okita smiled at Saitou. "Well what's the harm in hearing what the ladies have to say?"

With a sigh of relief, Chizuru gathered her courage and spoke. "I want to start searching for my father."

Saitou did not even take time to think about it. "That's not possible. We don't have enough men to keep an eye on you."

"Oh? Why not take Chizuru out with you on your regular patrols?" Chizuru lit up at Saber's suggestion but Saitou seemed less than thrilled at the idea. By the way Okita's mouth had opened and shut right away, she guessed that he was about to suggest the same thing as her and he seemed disappointed that she beat him to it.

"Not a bad idea, Saber. Thing is, we can't keep a constant eye on Chizuru while doing our own work." Okita wore a mask of mock regret that Saber saw through immediately. Now he just wanted to cause trouble.

"Well I can defend myself a little." Chizuru touched the hilt of her kodachi. Her father taught her early on how to use it but she had never drawn it against another person. That last part was better off not being shared though.

Saitou stepped away from Okita and motioned for Saber to give Chizuru some space before speaking. "If you want to come with us then allow me to test your skill. It is dangerous out there and any mistake could lead to your death." Chizuru did not seem to understand so he continued. "I want you to attack me with your most powerful strike. I will hold back but there is no need for you to do the same."

"Saitou I can't do that! What if you get hurt?"

Okita burst out laughing while pointedly ignoring Saber's harsh glare. A sigh escaped Saitou's lips but he remained in control of himself otherwise. "If you are concerned with harming me then keep your sword sheathed or attack with the back of the blade."

Saber moved around to stand next to Okita. His lips curled into a smile laced with hostility and in return Saber leveled him in an ice cold stare that would have frozen an ocean. Chizuru glanced at them worriedly and wondered to herself how long it would be before the two of them have had enough of each other. She would never guess it but Saitou had the same question in his own mind.

The match itself did not last very long. Chizuru charged at Saitou with all her might but at the last second Saitou drew his sword, disarmed her, and nearly cut her head off. His blade fell short just a few centimeters of her neck, where he held it for a few seconds before placing it back in its sheath. It all happened so fast the poor girl didn't even realize her sword was not even in her hand anymore.

"You can see into the heart of one's swordsmanship. You were blessed with a good teacher."

"Huh?"

Saber bent down and picked up Chizuru's blade as the girl tried to calm down her rapidly beating heart. The kodachi looked well-made though it seemed a bit old and it was far lighter and shorter than any sword Saber had grown accustomed to using in the past. For someone like chizuru, who was unused to combat, it was an excellent weapon of choice. Outside of her thoughts she heard the captains explaining Saitou's style to her without a hint of the condescending tone she had expected them to use. After the explanation Saitou surprised them by saying that Chizuru's sword skills were ample enough to consider letting her out with them on patrols.

Saber walked over to Chizuru and handed back her sword. Chizuru nodded in appreciation but her numb hands nearly dropped the blade. The girl was happy though, despite nearly passing out from Saitou's would-be fatal attack.

"Well then, now that we've settled our business here Chizuru and I will be leaving." Saber's words sapped the happiness right out of Chizuru. Instead of replying, she looked down and nodded in disappointment

"Hey you don't need to leave so soon. Hijikata's off at Osaka so as long as you keep your mouths shut we will too." It was Okita, surprisingly, who came to Chizuru's rescue. He then sent a wide grin Saber's way. "Besides, I get the feeling Hajime wants you to hang around a little longer, Saber."

"Does he? What for?" Something about his teasing tone concerned Saber but she did not get what he was trying to say.

"I was wondering if you would like to have a sparring match with me, Saber. That's all." Saitou narrowed his eyes at Okita, who pretended not to notice.

"I would be more than happy to accept your request. However, I clearly do not possess a sword."

"You can use mine if you want." Chizuru held her kodachi out. Saber nodded in thanks and grasped the hilt in her hands. She took a few practice swings to get the feel of the blade and before falling into an awkward stance that tried to make up for the blade's shortness and lightness.

Chizuru went to stand next to Okita with a worried look on her face. "I hope they don't get hurt." She only saw Saber fight very briefly when they first met so she was not sure of how good of a fighter she was but what she did know was that Saber already lost to Saitou once.

"Ah don't worry about them so much. As long as they enjoy themselves there's no harm done." There was not a trace of concern in Okita's voice and his words provided no comfort for Chizuru. Saitou carried himself differently now. When he faced Chizuru he looked rather bored with his opponent. Now, his features were tensed. His eyes held the same cold determination that Saber's did.

Saitou's eyes swept over Saber's stance for a moment. "Ah yes, you are unfamiliar with eastern weapons. I will adjust myself to accommodate for you."

"I appreciate the offer but there is no need to hold back. It is my responsibility to adapt as required." A confident smile spread across her lips.

The courtyard settled into silence. Chizuru bit her lip nervously as she and Okita watched the warriors with growing apprehension. Saber narrowed her eyes, tightened her grasp on her sword, and then made the first move. She shot at Saitou with incredible speed and lashed out with a powerful first strike. Saitou blocked it but not without being knocked back by the sheer power behind her attack. He regained his footing in time to block a flurry of quick slashes, each aimed for a vital part of his body.

Their swords clashed and held each other for a second before Saitou broke their stand off and hopped back out of Saber's range. "Your speed and strength have improved since last time."

A smile appeared across Saber's lips. "Yes, so perhaps you should stop holding back now. As you can see I am more than capable holding my ground." Though Saber was unable to utilize her mana burst ability she still had her natural technique and strength to make up for it. The first time Saitou and herself faced off she had just been brought to this time and her body was still aching from her failed activation of her circuits. She was in much better form today.

He smiled, as if to say she would regret those words, and then closed the distance between them again. The sound of their swords clashing echoed through the courtyard. Sparks flew every time their blades met and neither seemed close to tiring. From the sidelines, Chizuru could only watch in amazement at the ferocity of what she thought would be a friendly duel. If either side made the slightest mistake she was sure they would lose their life. Beside her, Okita was watching with a bemused expression as if he had not expected Saber to last more than five seconds.

Out of the corner of her eye, Chizuru saw Kondou and Inoue emerge from the compound with curious expressions. They must have been passing by when they heard the sounds of the fight. From their gaping expressions she could tell it was not every day they saw someone match Saitou so well in swordplay, which only further proved just how incredible Saber truly was.

However, Saber's disadvantages were bound to catch up to her eventually. She had to compensate for the shortness of her sword and try not to put so much power into swinging the light weighted weapon. If she lost by throwing herself off balance it would be a horrible humiliation. She blocked a strike for her neck before twisting out of the way of his follow up strike. She initiated an instant counter attack, which had as much success as his own attempts to get past her defenses.

Just as the onlookers were starting to think that this fight would go on all day, a resounding clash louder than the others before sounded from their blades. The small kodachi flew through the air a few feet before clattering to the ground uselessly. Its wielder stood unmoving in front of her opponent with the tip of his blade pointed at her throat. The match was decided.

After a few quiet seconds, Saitou returned his blade to its sheath and they bowed to each other.

"You are a master of the sword. It was an honor to cross blades with someone of your caliber." Saber's voice caught in her throat. Beads of sweat poured down her face and a pleased smile was spread across her lips.

"Your words honor me. I wonder how differently this match would have gone if you possessed a weapon you are more familiar with." Saitou looked content with the fight, and Chizuru felt that even if he had lost that would not change his feelings in the slightest.

Okita chuckled at their sudden friendliness. "Hey, if you two want to take this any further could you take it inside please? You're making us uncomfortable over here."

Saber and Saitou shot him equally cold glares and backed away from each other reflexively. To their right, Kondou and Inoue were walking over with amazement shining in their eyes. The chief seemed to completely forget that Saber and Chizuru were supposed to be in their room and not sparring with his captains. Inoue clearly remembered the broken rule but kept purposefully quiet.

"Saber, that was incredible; I swear you almost had him for a minute there!" Kondou gave Saber a friendly swat across the back that almost sent her to the ground. "It's about time Saitou had some healthy competition like you." He bent down and said in a quieter voice, "All his wins were starting to go to his head, you know." He let out another bark of laughter and swatted her across the back again. He was like an affectionate father praising his child for doing well. It was a little embarrassing but she could not help but understand a little more of why the men liked him so much.

"I did not realize you were watching, Kondou. I am pleased that you think so highly of my skill." She bowed slightly as Kondou showered her with praise and started to bombard her and Saitou with excited comments about their fight. Inoue maneuvered around them to stand beside Chizuru with her kodachi in hand.

"Here's your sword, Chizuru. Saber seems a little preoccupied so I figured I'd return it myself."

She smiled at him. "Thank you Inoue." Her gaze drifted over to Saber, who looked a little overwhelmed by all the attention the man was giving her. Saitou remained quiet for the most part but seemed entertained. "Is Kondou always so friendly with everyone he meets?"

"The guy just can't help himself from trying to be everyone's friend," Okita with an unexpected bite behind his words. Chizuru shifted awkwardly in her spot, unsure of what brought that on.

Inoue shook his head and looked sadly back at the Saber. "I just wonder what sort of life would require such a pretty young girl like her to dress as a man and learn how to fight so intensely. She looks about your age, Chizuru, but mentally she could be Hijikata's age."

Okita shrugged and crossed his arms. Inoue's words hardly seemed to affect him at all. "She's no different from any of us Inoue. Forget about what gender she is because I'll bet she's got quite a body count."

Inoue's shoulders slumped. "No girl should have to live with blood on their hands."

"Better not say that to her face. I doubt she's the merciful type." Inoue frowned and turned away without a word.

Something Inoue said stuck in Chizuru's head. Saber could not be any older than her but she was already a master of the blade and was apparently deeply involved with the politics of her country, enough so that an assassin had come for her. Chizuru's life consisted of helping her father with the clinic and nothing else up until this past week. Her life seemed so normal and bland in comparison to the English girl.

After a few minutes of Kondou embarrassing Saber Inoue finally went over and managed to grab his attention by kindly reminding him of the paperwork still waiting for him back inside. Kondousuddenly looked like a child who's candy had been stolen away and after exchanging a few whining complaints with Inoue, finally gave up and allowed himself to be taken away to fulfill his duties as commander.

"Well ladies, I think we've had enough fun for the day. It's about time for you girls to go back to your room now." Okita's mirth seemed to have been drained after watching Kondou pay attention to someone other than himself.

Chizuru looked about as happy as Kondou when she heard that but she simply nodded and hung her head. Saber did not seem to care one way or the other. She simply thanked them for their time before leading Chizuru back the way they came. Saitou watched them leave without a word and then turned to go as well.

"Aw, don't look so disappointed Hajime. We can play with them again tomorrow too."

Saitou turned to rebuke Okita but found that the man was already scampering away as if he did not have a care in the world.

* * *

"Are you sure that's okay, Toudou?"

"Yeah, I'm positive! Hijikata's not around to scowl at anyone so you don't gotta worry about a thing."

Saber listened to their exchange with mild interest from the back of the room where she sat in her usual style. Okita whispered loud enough for her ears to pick up that she looked depressing sitting in the shadows like that. Saitou, who stood beside him in the doorway, did not respond. At that moment everyone was watching Toudou in the doorway with mild interest as he tried to coax Chizuru out of her room to eat dinner with the rest of the captains. The girl was hesitant to accept his offer, and rightly so. The last time she had sat down in the common room together with them she had been under the assumption that her death was soon to be brought about by their hands.

"W-Well I guess… I guess if you're sure the others are okay with it."

"Tch, yeah why wouldn't they be?"

Chizuru clasped her hands together nervously. "W-Well I don't think they like me very much so-"

"You're worrying too much. Trust me, everything'll be fine."

"…Well alright then." She sighed in defeat. Against someone like Toudou she never really stood a chance in the first place. "But what about Saber? She can come too, right?"

Toudou looked like he had been struck by lightning. Apparently, Saber was so quiet he completely forgot she was listening. "Well… I don't know. The rules are a little stricter for her." He stole a glance at Saber to see her reaction but not a muscle had moved in her body. His eyes met Saber's for a second before he turned away. She did not miss the shadow of distrust in them. "I think it'd be better if it was just you…"

Saber knew what was coming next. Chizuru's stubborn side came to light as soon as the words were out of his mouth. "If Saber can't come then I'm not going either. It's not fair for her to be stuck here by herself when I'm off with everyone else."

For the first time since the three captains barged into the room, Saber spoke up with the same level voice as always. "Chizuru, please go ahead and eat with the other captains. My presence would only bring discomfort to those gathered so do not decline this request on my account."

"But… you'll be here all by yourself." Chizuru bit her at the thought of leaving her friend behind like this, even if "friend" was a term she used loosely, as Saber probably did not care for Chizuru at all.

"I am used to eating solitary meals. It is no trouble."

A wave of guilt washed over Toudou and Chizuru upon hearing her words. Before Chizuru could bring out anymore lonely comments from Saber, Toudou quickly grabbed hold of her arm and dragged her out while ignoring all of her protests.

"Okita, Saitou, I apologize for the trouble I have caused. I will take my meal here as usual." She expected nothing but snark out of Okita, so his next words came as a surprise to her.

"Sorry about this. Most of the guys here think you're up to something and it could be bad if we were seen being too friendly with you. Earlier was fine but, well, let's not make a habit of it."

"I understand. We are in this situation out of necessity rather than camaraderie, after all."

With a wave he pushed off the wall he was leaning on and followed Toudou and Chizuru to the common room. Saitou remained where he was a few moments and seemed as if he wanted to say something. No words came though, so he simply nodded and left with the others, making sure to slide the door closed behind him.

Alone at last, Saber let out a quiet, tired sigh. She reflected that the last time she ate a meal with a group of people was with Shirou during the war. His cooking skills were incredible and far surpassed anything in her time. Taiga was always raising her voice about some manner or another and distressing her young Master.

'_I wonder how he is doing now…'_

She turned her head to stare out the window at the moon overhead. Ever since she met him, something had changed inside of her. The perfectly guarded walls that Saber had spent years building around her emotions formed a small chink, and there was no easy fix for the damage he caused. Now she found herself yearning for his company, and not a day went by that she did not wish to go back to the beginning of the Grail War to do things over a different way.

Amidst her brooding emotions, Saber lost track of how much time she spent like this. She did not even notice the footsteps coming down the hall towards her room, nor the silhouette in the door as they stopped outside.

"Saber?"

She jumped, startled by the sound of Kondou's voice. "Y-Yes?"

"I brought your dinner. Can I come in?"

Saber gave his shadow a puzzled look. Why would Kondou feel the need to bring her dinner himself? She walked over to the door and pulled it open to find the chief standing there with a tray of food in his hands. He looked pleased to see her, as if he had not expected her to let him in so easily. She stepped aside and motioned for him to come in. Once inside, he set her tray down in the center of the room and sat down on the other side of it. Saber took a seat opposite to him with a carefully guarded expression. He noticed this and gave her a warm smile.

"Chizuru put up a big fuss about you being stuck here like this. I feel pretty bad so I decided to keep you company while you eat." When he did not get an immediate response his face reddened. " Er, I can go if you want me to."

Saber shook her head. "It would be disrespectful of me to send my host away." She cocked her head to the side. "I am simply surprised that the Shinsengumi commander would come to visit me like this. I welcome the company."

Kondou's face fell. "Used to eating alone but not happy about it, huh?"

Saber started her meal and left his words hanging with no reply.

"Listen, I'll try to convince the others to give you a chance. I can't make any promises but it's worth a shot, right?"

She frowned as she swallowed a particularly soggy vegitable. Whoever made dinner tonight left little to be desired. Perhaps her meal was specially prepared. "Are you not worried that I will betray you if given too much freedom?"

"Well, I guess we'll just have to see won't we? You seem like an honest kid and, judging by how well you took on Saitou this morning, you could have escaped any time you wanted to this week. That doesn't absolutely clear you of all suspicions of course but you haven't done anything wrong yet."

"You are too trusting, Kondou." She smiled nonetheless. His kindness was touching. "Why are you so concerned for me? I've hardly made any attempt at bonding with you or the men. It would make more sense if you simply ignored me."

"It goes both ways. If we keep you in here all day when will you get the chance to talk to anyone?" He laughed. "Saitou is the most perceptive of all of us and he seems to like you well enough. Souji too even if he doesn't show it. He at least finds you interesting." Saber raised a brow, unable to hide her surprise at that. "What? He's a good kid even if he's a bit rough around the edges."

She took another bite of her soggy meal as she considered his words. "Well who am I to doubt your judgments of your own men? I'm sure Okita has some positive points somewhere in him." Her thoughts shifted to earlier when he actually seemed sincere for once. Maybe Kondou was right and Okita did sympathize with her in his own way?

"That's the spirit Saber! You'll see we're not all that bad. Maybe not as fancy as what you're used to back home, but we're a close nit group."

"… It is good that you are all so close to each other. Your bonds will keep the Shinsengumi strong."

Kondou frowned. Once again, Saber sounded far older than she was.

"So, I wanted to ask-"

"Kondou!" Inoue's feet pounded against the walkway outside before he skid to a stop outside of Saber's room. He gave a hurried bow and motioned his commander over to him. Kondou instantly slid into his role as the commander. He muttered an apology and hurried over to the captain who started whispering hurriedly into his ear. Saber chewed idly at her food with feigned disinterest. Her honed sense of hearing managed to pick up bits and pieces of the conversation.

"Sannan… his arm was injured… serious…"

Kondou's eyes narrowed. "Saber, I'm sorry but something's come up. You'll have to finish on your own." She nodded to him once before he hurried away with his captain. Now left alone once again, Saber chewed on a particularly tough piece of meat as she thought about what she overheard. Depending on how bad the wound was there was a good chance he would not be able to wield a sword again. For someone who devoted their entire life to the blade, losing the ability to use it would be equitable to death. Saber had no real opinion of Sannan other than knowing she had to be cautious around him. Even so, she prayed that the damage was only temporary. No warrior deserved a fate like that.

* * *

~July~

Her prayers fell on empty ears it seemed. Sannan's arm never healed to its previous state which left him in a crippled state. Over the next few months Saber watched the man fall into a depression she was sure nothing could pull him out of. She did not pity him, for she knew that would only make him feel worse, but she did regret not getting to know the man he was before. He made no efforts in hiding his misery and often took it out on the people around him. The Sannan from before always made Saber on edge but he _had_ been the most approachable out of all the Shinsengumi.

Aside from the loss of Sannan's sword arm not much had changed within the compound. Saber spent most of her time in her room unless Chizuru convinced her to leave on a walk around the grounds. They never got too far without a captain conveniently appearing to accompany them on their walk. It was exactly like having a baby sitter, which annoyed Saber almost as much as being shut up inside for months did. She had no purpose in this world but she was quickly realizing that the longer she stayed here, the less chance she had of finding a drive to keep living.

There was one activity that she used to pass the time. She convinced Chizuru to lend Saber her sword every so often so that she could practice in their room to keep herself in shape. There was nobody to fight at the moment but it was important to remain vigilant at all times. Things with the Shinsengumi could go south any day and she had to be in the best condition to handle that day when it comes.

While she never had much time to herself because of sharing the room, Saber found a few chances to test her connection with her magic circuits. Each time she was overwhelmed by an enormous amount of pain that left her feeling drained for the rest of the day. She only attempted this three times before giving up. It was not that the pain was _overwhelming_, but rather if she continued to push herself then she might not be able to keep silent and someone might discover her in a state that she would prefer not to explain. It was silly to keep on trying like she was doing but it just made no sense why she was unable to access them. If only there was someone skilled in magic who could help her. On her own, all she managed to deduce was that it _did_ get easier each time she tried, but just barely.

On a more social not, through Chizuru, Saber learned which captains were less trusting of her than others. Hijikata, Sannan, Nagakura, and Heusuke were all content with letting her rot away in her room without a second thought. Kondou and Inoue, on the other hand, fought to give her as much breathing room as they could. Saitou's stance was simply in support of whatever Hijikata decided. If he had an opinion, he kept it to himself. Harada was not particularly fond of her but he was against keeping her isolated like this. His opinion was that they might as well execute her because she was barely living as it was. Saber, after months of awkward silences with Chizuru and lonely meals by herself, was inclined to agree with him. Part of her knew that his opinion was also biased based on the fact that she is a female.

That left Okita, who as always, had the most annoying opinion. He did not care what happened to Saber, so long as the results were interesting to watch. As much as she tried to awaken her initial anger of the man, Saber found she just did not have the heart for it anymore. This confinement left her emotionally drained and Okita's antics were the only thing keeping her from going completely mad. Perhaps it was his way of being kind.

It occurred to her that perhaps the reason the men were so unwilling to trust her was that she did not put forth enough effort to get them approve of her. Her people skills were down right awful, and even though she had been the King of England, she was accused of not understanding basic human emotions, an accusation which was entirely correct. The more she thought about it, the more she thought that maybe if they would not approach her then she must be the one to approach them. What would she even say to them though? She barely knew these men. How did Chizuru make it look so easy?

Chizuru was enjoying her time with the Shinsengumi despite their coldness toward her. She was constantly being left alone by her father back in Edo so even though the men were far from being her friends she still appreciated their company. She was just recently given permission to start accompanying the captains out on their patrols and went out with Okita earlier. Apparently something happened while they were out but Chizuru had, as always, been forbidden from sharing Shinsengumi business with Saber. It was clear to her though that _something_ big was going to happen around there soon.

While Chizuru moped in her room over whatever failure she was involved in they overheard Harada and Saitou talking about something that certainly was not for them to hear. Saber had thought it was strangely careless of them but after motioning for Chizuru to be quiet she eavesdropped on the conversation and learned a little information about some mysterious "allies". There was something about blood mentioned and Saber immediately thought of those silver haired men she saw months ago. There was no way of confirming any of her suspicions for now though. Chizuru was extremely anxious when they moved out of their range of hearing and eventually excused herself to make herself useful. Being out of the loop, Saber had no idea what that meant.

Half an hour after that Chizuru burst back into their room with a thrilled expression on her face.

"They asked me to go with them on a raid!"

"What?"

Chizuru was hopping back and forth on each foot with barely contained excitement. "The Shinsengumi are going on a mission and Kondou just asked me to go with his group as a messenger! I'm finally going to be able to do something for them!"

Saber's walls were up in time to block a pang of envy. "Is that so? You cannot fight in battle with them. What are they bringing you for?"

"Kondou wants me to be a messenger for them. I won't actually be involved in the fighting but at least there's something I can do. Plus, I have some medical knowledge in case they need it."

That was hardly any excuse to bring someone so inexperienced into battle but Saber kept her misgivings to herself. " When do you leave?"

"As soon as I finish up here. I came by to tell you because I had to tell someone but, well, everyone else knows so…"

A smile graced Saber's face at her words. It was nice to be thought of in some way, even as a last resort.

'_That is an unhealthy way of thinking…' _She internally winced.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Chizuru wheeled back around just as she was leaving. "Sannan wants you to join him in the common room. You and him are going to defend the compound while we're out."

'_In other words, he wants to keep his eyes on me while the others are away.'_

"I understand. Stay safe, Chizuru." The girl nodded and ran off down the hall. Saber left shortly afterward for the common room. She was already dreading the time she would be forced to spend with Sannan.

* * *

They had been staring from across the room at each other for a long time without exchanging a single word. Saber still felt suspicious of him and Sannan was too put out at being stuck here to bother exchanging words with her.

Their staring match was cut short when a man garbed in all black sped into the room. His eyes were the only portion of his face that were not covered in black cloth the same color as his clothing and there was a sense of urgency in them that neither Sannan or Saber missed.

"Yamazaki, what's the matter?" Sannan was on his feet immediately.

"Colonel, I have information regarding-" he stopped to glance at Saber suspiciously but Sannan waved for him to continue.

Yamazaki narrowed his eyes and continued. "The enemy is at the Ikeda Inn. Kondou and the others have begun to engage them but they are vastly outnumbered. The Aizu have yet to show up and our men are in serious need of reinforcements."

Sannan nodded and motioned for Yamazaki to follow him out. Just as they were about exit, Sannan suddenly turned to Saber.

"Saber, come with us please." She gave him a questioning look. "I will explain on the way but please hurry. Time is of the essence."

She quickly stood and fell into line behind the men as the three of them hurried outside toward the compound's main gate. "Yamazaki, you need to go to the Shikokuya and deliver this information to Hijikata. They _must_ get this message no matter what which is why I am sending Saber with you."

Yamazaki and Saber stiffened at the same time. "I can make it to Hijikata much faster if I go alone. There is no need for her to come with me."

"This message is Kondou's only hope. If something happens to you along the way then, well, I'm sure you can imagine the results."

Saber interrupted before Yamazaki could argue further. "Sannan, how can you be so sure that I will not simply abandon the Shinsengumi when I have the chance? You are betting a lot on my integrity."

A cold smile tugged at his lips. "If you were anyone else, I might be worried, yes. But I doubt you could live with yourself if you abandoned us in our time of need, especially after the hospitality we've shown you these past few months. Plus, Chizuru is at the Ikeda Inn right now. If you don't get help she could be killed."

Saber narrowed his eyes at the man and held her tongue. Now was not the time for bickering. "Very well then, I will accompany Yamazaki to Shikokuya."

Yamazaki glared down at her. "If you try to run or get in my way I _will_ kill you. Follow my orders no matter what." He gave one last look to his colonel as he backed out of the compound. "Please take care of things here while we're away." He motioned for Saber to follow him and together they ran down the empty Kyoto streets.

Their journey was filled with silence. Yamazaki was tightly wound and ready to strike her down at the slightest misstep on her part. Saber had no intention of running away though because unfortunately, Sannan was right. She could not leave these men to die even if their confinement had nearly driven her insane. At least they cared for her needs and put a roof over her head. Plus, Chizuru and Kondou were in danger of being hurt. Saber's conversations with the two were awkward at best but she still appreciated the effort they put into being friendly with her.

"Saber."

His quiet voice shook her out of her thoughts. "Yes?"

His gaze was pointed straight ahead where three men were ambling carelessly down the street. Each man had a pair of swords strapped to his side. At the pace Saber and Yamazaki were running at they would be upon them very soon. "This is where we part. Keep running straight down this road and you will find Hijikata and the others."

Saber's eyes flickered to his for a moment. "I understand. Stay safe Yamazaki." He nodded as the men up ahead rapidly came closer. "Do not worry for your friends. I swear on my honor that Kondou will get his reinforcements."

He considered her words for a moment and then nodded gratefully. "I'll put my trust in you then, Saber."

Up ahead, the men spread out across the street. The man in the middle spoke up with feigned friendliness in his voice. "Hey, don't you know it's dangerous to wander the streets this late at night?" They drew their blades with sadistic smiles.

Saber did not slow her pace. Instead, she willed her legs to move as fast as they could toward the men. When she was ten feet in front of the man in the middle she heard Yamazaki draw his sword just in time to block the strike that would have otherwise taken her head. She kept going, not once looking back toward the sounds of Yamazaki engaging the three men.

There were no further interruptions on the road. Saber maintained her pace no matter how much body protested and after several minutes her eyes caught sight of the familiar sight of Shinsengumi blue coats. When the men caught saw her a suspicious murmur broke out amongst the ranks. Came forward from the crowd to investigate and when their eyes met his hand went to his sword. This probably looked like an escape attempt to him but hopefully he would wait to cut her head off until after she relayed her message. She skid to a stop in front of him just as Harada and Saitou emerged from the crowd to stand on either side of the vice-commander.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here? Do you really want to die?"

"Be silent and listen. I have a message from Sannan."

Hijikata crossed his arms. "This better be good."

"The enemy is at the Ikeda Inn. Kondou's forces require your assistance."

Whatever Hijikata was about to say was instantly lost after he heard this. His eyes went wide and he spat out a few curses.

"I was sent along with Yamazaki but we were separated along the way by people I would assume are from your enemies. They no doubt wanted to cut off communications with your men."

Hijikata nodded and quickly turned to the other men. "We're going to the Ikeda to help Kondou. Get moving _now!_"

Saber took a brief moment to catch her breath now that her duty was complete when Harada suddenly clapped his hand against her shoulder and gave her a warm grin. "Thanks for coming through for us, kid." Saitou was silent as always but she felt he was thankful as well in his own way.

They quickly moved out to the Ikeda. They could not spare anyone to escort Saber back to headquarters so they brought her along. Thanks to her help, no one seemed to mind that much.

* * *

When they arrived at the Ikeda Inn they were instantly greeted by the sounds of battle raging from within the building. Hijikata turned to his men and began to issue his orders.

"Sano, take your men around back to cut off the enemy's escape. Saitou, you'll go in through the front to help the men inside. As for you, Saber, you'll be staying out here with me." When he turned to her he froze in place. The spot she had been occupying moments before was empty. His eyes shot over to the entrance of the inn just in time to see her form disappear through the entrance. He bit out a curse and turned back to Saitou. "Bring her back out here if you can. Damn idiot's gonna get 'himself' killed." Saitou nodded before he and Harada moved with their men to their target locations.

"Y'know, if Saber doesn't get killed in there I think Hijikata might just do her in himself later." Harada grinned at Saitou before his men split off to head to the back of the building.

Meanwhile, the setting Saber stepped into was one of absolute chaos. The floor slick with the blood of the corpses littered about. Most of the dead were not wearing the traditional blue garbs of the Sinsengumi which meant the battle had to be in their favor.

Near the stairs she spotted Nagakura fending off three men at once. His clothing was stained red with what she hoped was the blood of other men. Without a moment's hesitation, Saber took off in their direction and made sure to bend down to scoop up a discarded sword on the way. She bounded forward and plunged the katana into the back of the man closest to. Blood spilled out of him when the sword was ripped out and he collapsed to the floor. His friends made the mistake of taking their eyes off Nagakura in their shock which proved to be their downfall. Nagakura's blade ripped through the second man's chest while Saber took on the third, easily deflecting his blows and slamming her sword into his gut. The man slumped to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"Saber, what the hell are you doing here?" is raised voice was heavy with both anger and confusion.

"I will explain later. For now, please brief me of the situation. Is anyone hurt?"

Nagakura glowered at her. "We've got a few wounded, including Souji and Heisuke. Chizuru's up stairs helping Souji out but Heisuke went off on his own on the west side of the inn. They're fighting a couple nasty looking guys- Hey, where do you think you're going?!"

Saber, who had already turned her back on Nagakura, spoke with the same authoritive tone she had used the day they met. "I am going to assist Toudou. The rest of the Shinsengumi are here to assist you with matters here."

He was about to protest when two men charged down the stairs at him with their swords out and poised to strike him down. Nagakura growled in frustration. "Saber you better stay right where you are, damn it!"

His words fell on empty air because Saber was already sprinting down the hall to where Nagakura indicated Toudou was. Chizuru lacked fighting experience but she did have a good mind. Hopefully that would be enough for her and Okita to survive.

Nearby, Toudou's cry of pain sounded out like a beacon to her. She rounded a sharp corner in time to see Toudou's body thrown to the ground by a large, red haired man who held no weapon in his hand.

"Toudou!" She rushed up to stand in front of him in a defensive stance. A glance back confirmed that he was still breathing but blood was pouring from a severe wound to his head. His bewildered blue eyes struggled to focus on her as he tried to regain his footing but his balance was off and he collapsed back to the ground.

"W-What're you doing here Saber?" His words were muddled together and hard to understand.

"Toudou, I am here to assist you. I advise that you retreat to a safer location to get your wound treated."

"N-No, there's no way I'm leaving…leaving you to… There's no way!" he yelled and again attempted to stand up. He barely succeeded and used what little momentum he had to propel himself at the man with his sword poised to strike. The man easily dodged to the side of Toudou's strike and delivered a power punch into his stomach. Toudou was launched backwards and slammed into the ground at Saber's feet.

She stepped around Toudou and went in for her own attack. Her blade cut through the air to strike at his stomach but the man blocked it with his arms. A surprised grunt escaped his mouth as his feet slid back on the floor from the sheer force behind her attack. She continued attacking at a rapid pace with each strike coming so fast he only had time to block each one. How this man was blocking her strikes by simply using his arms was a mystery but she would break through his defenses easily if this was all he could do.

"Enough of this." After some time the man had enough of this exchange. His hands suddenly came up to clamp around the blade of Saber's sword.

"What?!" Her eyes widened in shock. He yanked the sword forward, causing her body to follow its momentum, and drew his arm back. Saber's eyes widened as she could only watch it slam forward into her stomach. The force of the impact sent her flying back to land on top of Toudou, who let out a pained grunt upon impact. Her pained coughing echoed through the room as the man watched her struggle to regain her breath.

Toudou's eyes opened slightly and if the situation was less dire he may have had more to say about having a girl lying face down on top of him. "Saber, get out of here…" His voice came out as a whisper. If they were not lying face to face then she might not have heard him at all. "Y-You don't need to die for me." He was barely conscious now.

Saber rolled off of him with a grimace and pulled his wakizashi out of its sheath. "Apologies for taking this." Her voice was strained from the pain in her stomach but she could still fight. She slowly stood back up and pointed the short sword at the man.

"I would advise you both to cease this foolish struggle. I have no quarrel with either of you and I would prefer not to take your lives needlessly." Their opponent's voice was calm but the underlying threat was quite obvious.

Saber shook her head as she stood back up. "Giving up is not in my nature. I am not so weak that I would be felled by one strike."

"Boy, do not think so highly of yourself. If I had used my full power then you would have been killed instantly." There was no hint of arrogance in his voice; he only spoke plain fact. When Saber did not move from her stance he frowned and turned his back on her.

"Do not be so hasty to throw your life away." With that, he walked away from them without another word. Saber's hands remained tightened around the sword until he left the room. It was vexing to let him go but judging by Toudou's pained groan behind her, she did not have the time to give chase. When turned back to the captain he had finally passed out from his wounds.

Saber knelt down beside him and ripped off a strip of her clothing to tie securely around his still bleeding forehead. His katana was lying nearby so she picked it up and slid it back into its sheath along with his wakizashi. After a moment, she carefully slung Toudou's arm around her neck and placed her other arm under his legs and carefully hoisted him up off the ground. As she walked out with the captain in her arms she could not help but feel glad that he passed out earlier because he would have surely raised a fit at this treatment.

* * *

The sounds of battle had mostly died down by the time they made it back to the main room of the inn. Swords could be heard clashing at the back entrance of the inn but otherwise the fighting had come to a stop. As she was exiting the hall, both she and Toudou were nearly flattened by Nagakura, who almost did not notice them in his haste. He looked down in surprise at the sight of them with a hint of relief etched in his face upon seeing his friend was still alive.

"What the hell happened to him?"

"Toudou engaged in combat with a man specializing in unarmed combat. He was unable to defeat the man, and neither was I." She looked away with regret. "I apologize for not being able to do more."

Nagakura scooped Toudou out of her arms and cocked his head toward the door. "Come on, Sano and the others are finishing up in the back." He clearly would have been back there with them had he not been so worried about his fellow captain. Together, they stepped over the corpses littered across the room and made their way outside. Nagakura glanced back at Saber as they made their way over to where the rest of the wounded were set up. "You alright there, blondie? You're not looking so hot yourself."

Saber grimaced and quickly let her hand, which had been previously clutching her sore stomach, fall back to her side. "The most serious wound I retained was to my pride. He blocked each of my attacks and was able to incapacitate me with a single strike."

He let out a short bark of laughter. "You and Heisuke can take turns beating the hell out him next time, don't worry." He set Toudou down next to one of the injured men before rounding on Saber again. "Tell me the truth though, how bad did he get you?" His eyes shifted down to her stomach to indicate that he did not miss her previous action.

She sighed. "He simply used enough force to stun me. Whatever pain I feel should not last for very long."

He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, you got Heisuke out and neither of you died so I'd say it's a job well done." He grinned. "Thanks for going after the little brat. He can be a real handful sometimes."

Saber smiled in response and felt warmed by his shift in attitude toward her. "It was no trouble. I did not do much but your words are appreciated."

Nagakura's eyes suddenly narrowed on something behind Saber. When she turned to see what he was gazing at so intently her entire body stiffened. Coming toward them were two men carrying a makeshift stretcher that they must have thrown together using materials from the inn. The man laid out on the stretcher was none other than Okita, whose clothes were stained with blood but had no visible surface wounds. Not far behind them was Chizuru, who looked absolutely horrified at the state Okita was in, and Saitou, who was clearly having trouble with his usual stoic act.

The men set Okita down nearby and Chizuru immediately sat down beside him. A soldier ran over with his arms brimming of medical supplies which Chizuru took and got to work on patching up Okita's wounds. Now that Saber had a closer look at him she could see that he only had a few minor cuts from a sword. The real damage was most likely internal based on his labored breaths and the blood staining his mouth. Nagakura and Saber could only watch helplessly. They both knew that this was a field Chizuru knew more about that anyone else here and they would only get in the way. Nagakura's fists tightened at his sides and he let out a low, angered growl.

"I'm gonna find the bastards that did this to him and Heisuke and I'm gonna make'em regret ever being born."

Saber pursed her lips. "You'll have to get in line behind Toudou and Okita, I'm afraid."

They stood together as more men trickled out of the inn. The final reports showed that there were two casualties and several wounded. Okita received the worst injuries out of all of the soldiers but thanks to Chizuru's help, he and the rest of the men pulled through.


	6. Downtime

_(Okay this does it for the revisions. Can't wait to start putting out new chapters again!.)_

* * *

Chapter 6

A few hours later, Chizuru opened the door to her room with her medical satchel still slung around her shoulder. Her face was worn with fatigue and her clothes were thick with the blood and sweat of the soldiers she had been attending to.

"Chizuru, you should rest now. You look terrible."

Chizuru, who seemed to be in the middle of a deep thought, nearly jumped out of her skin. "S-Saber! I thought you would be asleep by now." The blonde was sitting in the middle of the room still dressed as she was before. Her face seemed as expressionless as ever but when Chizuru looked closer she swore Saber looked worried.

"I would not be able to sleep if I wanted to." Saber motioned for the girl to sit in front of her. Chizuru happily complied and with a loud _thunk_ she gracelessly landed her butt on the floor with a sigh.

"That's exactly how I feel right now. After everything that happened today I feel like I'll never sleep again." A yawn escaped her lips before she could go on and she smiled sheepishly. "Well, maybe I will… but give me some time to calm down."

A small smile spread across Saber's own lips. "You did well today. I heard from some of the men that thanks to your help several lives were saved."

Chizuru's cheeks turned a little pink. "Oh, that was nothing. Yamazaki did a much better job when we got back."

"Do not underestimate yourself. Okita might not have made it if not for you."

The memory of the swordsman's bloodied body caused Chizuru to stiffen. "I… I hope he's going to be okay. Him, Heisuke, and everyone else."

"Thanks to you, they will be." Chizuru looked up in surprise at Saber's strangely warm words. Even stranger was the look of respect in those piercing green eyes. Had she really done something so impressive?

"Y-Yes, well, anyway I have one more patient to check up on before I can call it a night."

"Oh?" Saber saw the way Chizuru was eyeing her and froze. "You are mistaken. I was not injured in the battle so I do not require your assistance."

"Saber, now is not the time to be hard headed! Nagakura said that you were in pain when he last saw you so don't try to pretend that everything's okay."

Saber silently cursed the captain and his big mouth. "I am fine now. Please do not worry yourself over my wellbeing."

Chizuru's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I won't leave you alone until you let me examine you."

They glared at each other for a moment before Saber finally gave in. "Very well then, but as soon as you finish with me, you will go to bed. Understand?"

Chizuru nodded with a triumphant glint in her eyes before getting down to business. Saber described her encounter with the unarmed man and what happened to her. The story was fairly short and she inwardly hoped that Chizuru would simply brush off what happened, but of course, the girl's eyes went wide with worry and she immediately ordered for Saber to show her where she was struck. The blonde let out another annoyed sigh and slipped off the top portion of her garments. Once the clothing was removed, only the thick wrappings tightly wound around her chest kept her from being completely exposed to the elements.

A tiny gasp escaped from Chizuru's lips when her eyes caught sight of where the man had hit Saber. The blonde looked down and was not surprised to see that a large, black bruise had formed on her pale skin. Truth be told, it still hurt but Saber had experienced far worse pains in life. She barely noticed it at all. "Chizuru, it is not as bad as the injuries the other men received. There is no reason to worry."

Her words fell on deaf ears as Chizuru hurriedly pulled out some sort of ointment from her bag and immediately attacked the bruise with it. Saber refrained from wincing at the sudden touch of her skin. In life, her wounds automatically healed thanks to the power of Avalon. After the sheath was stolen in battle she either attended to her own wounds or, if she was desperate enough, asked Merlin for assistance. During the Wars, any injuries she retained were healed with her own spiritual energy. She was not used to the feeling of someone taking care of her like this.

"Don't be afraid to ask for help. Everyone gets hurt so it's nothing to be ashamed of." Chizuru said softly while rubbing the ointment onto the bruise.

"I should not have been hurt so easily though. It's shameful to have been defeated in such a way."

Chizuru only sighed in response and they fell into silence again. After she finished treating the bruise she moved on to check the rest of Saber's body for anymore abrasions. Thanks to the medicine, the soreness in Saber's stomach was soothed for the most part and the tension slowly drained from her body. "Thank you. It does feel better now."

Chizuru looked up from the arm she was inspecting with surprise and quickly smiled at her words. "You're very welcome. I'm always happy to help."

Their heads turned to the door when they picked up on the sound of approaching footsteps which came to a stop just outside their room.

"Are you two awake? We need to talk." The voice belonged to the vice-commander, Hijikata. Saber had very limited contact with him throughout her confinement due to them always being at each other's throats when they did happen to come across one another. Sannan's mission was the most peaceful encounter they have ever had.

"Yes, you may enter."

Chizuru's eyes widened in a sudden panic. "S-Saber but you're- Hijikata wait!"

The door slid open and in walked Hijikata, who stopped short upon seeing Saber's appearance. His brows rose in surprise but otherwise his face remained relatively blank. He walked over and took sat in the spot that Chizuru previously occupied before fixing the blonde in his usual glare. Chizuru was a blushing mess and was fumbling with Saber's clothes while mumbling several apologies to the vice-commander.

"That's not really a decent look for a woman to let a man walk in on, Saber."

The warmth previously in Saber's face had been instantly replaced with her usual stoic expression and she simply gazed coolly into the man's sharp violet eyes. "I have already told you to disregard my gender so this," she waved a hand at her own body, "should not be a problem."

He rubbed his forehead, already predicting the splitting headache he was in store for. "Look, I don't care one way or the other but if you let someone like Shinpachi see you like this then we'll never hear the end of it."

"I understand. However, I assume you possess far more restraint than that man so I have nothing to worry about."

He rolled his eyes and scowled. "You're impossible."

"H-How are you both being so calm about this?!" Chizuru finally managed to throw Saber's clothes on around her and refasten them messily which only made the blonde look like she just rolled out of bed in her outfit.

"I have nothing to hide."

"There's nothing to see."

They had replied at the same time and instantly fell back on trading cold looks with each other.

Chizuru, desperate to break the tense and embarrassing atmosphere, turned to Hijikata and bowed her head quickly. "I-I'm sorry for- for this, um…"

He waved off her apology and sighed again in exasperation. "Don't worry about it. If Saber wants to show off then who are we to stop her?" Chizuru's blush intensified and kept her eyes trained on her lap.

A small, annoyed huff left Saber's mouth. "Did you simply come here to chastise me?" She smoothed out her clothes and gave a small nod to Chizuru in thanks for her help.

"No, but you give me a good reason to every time I see you."

"Then you best make your point before this escalates."

Hijikata gave an annoyed grunt. "Right. We need to talk about what happened earlier." He eyed them both seriously. Chizuru sat up straight and paled a little when she saw the look in his eyes. "You both did well."

"Eh?" Chizuru, confused, cocked her head to the side. Even the impassive Saber could not completely hide her surprise.

"Look, don't get me wrong here, I don't want you two running off into a battle like that again. You were in as much danger from being killed by either side. However, Chizuru, if you weren't there then Okita's condition may have been worse and he could have died. And Saber, Shinpachi was just bitching about how you stole some of his kills." He sighed but Saber got the impression he found that a little amusing. "Plus, you helped Heisuke out before he could get himself killed. You're both dumbasses but I guess it evens out in the end."

"Uh… thanks?" Chizuru was not sure what else there was to say. She _really_ did not want to get yelled at by the vice commander so it was best to leave it at that.

"Snide comments aside, your thanks are unneeded. My opponent landed a hit fairly easily before making an escape."

Hijikata shrugged at Saber as if it did not matter. "Take it or leave it, but he would have been worse off without your interruption. Heisuke would have fought till he fell over dead."

Saber smiled slightly in understanding. "Yes, I suppose he would have."

Hijikata turned his sharp gaze to Chizuru and she tensed up automatically. "Chizuru, Yamazaki is going to be busy with other matters so he won't be able to spend much time taking care of the wounded. After you get some rest, could you take care of them in his place?"

Her eyes lit up at the request. "Y-Yes, of course! I'd be happy to!"

Hijikata nodded to her once and turned back to Saber. "If you want, give her a hand when she goes." Saber nodded to him and with that he stood up. "I have a lot of work to do so I'll see you two tomorrow. Don't sleep in." He gave them a stern look before walking out.

"Hijikata."

The door was nearly slid all the way shut when Saber's cool voice stopped him from leaving. He turned his violet gaze back on her while waiting for her to speak.

"If it is not too much trouble I would like to make a request." He said nothing so she continued. "I have had to wield four different swords over the last few months. Two of them belonged to the deceased, and one of them I had to take off of your wounded captain. Holding a sword seems to be unavoidable for me so I would like to be allowed to carry my own from now on."

He narrowed his gaze and responded almost immediately. "You helped out today but that doesn't change anything. If we're seen giving that kind of leniency to a foreigner in could have negative repercussions on us."

"… I see." She kept her eyes leveled with his. "Please keep my proposition in mind if you begin to trust me in the future."

"Tch. This has nothing to do with trust."

'_It has everything to do with trust,'_ she thought.

"Goodnight Saber, Chizuru." He shut the door with a little _too _much force and stomped off. Chizuru's hands fidgeted together in her lap and she looked like she wanted to break the silence but was not sure how.

With a sigh, Saber turned to her with a reassuring look in her eyes. "Do not worry about it. This matter is between the vice-commander and myself."

Chizuru smiled hesitantly at her. "Well… at least he gave us permission to leave tomorrow. That's good, right?"

Saber nodded in return. "Yes, but only _after _we have rested. It's time for you to go to bed." She crossed her arms over her chest to add emphasis on her words.

"I know that! You don't need to tell me like you're my father." She jut her lower lip out slightly. Saber only smiled and shook her head in amusement.

* * *

When Saber shook Chizuru awake in the morning the sun was already fairly high in the sky. She jumped out of her bedding and frantically started pulling her day clothes out while issuing several apologies to the blonde over.

Saber, eyes wide from the sudden burst of activity from the girl who had been sleeping like a rock, raised her hands in a calming manner. "Chizuru, please relax. I myself slept in this morning. There is no need to be concerned."

Chizuru looked back to see heavy dark circles under each of the blonde's eyes. "S-Slept in? By how much?"

Saber looked down in disappointment. "Twenty minutes. How very careless of me…"

"T-Twenty minutes? I think you should have slept a little later. We did turn in pretty late."

Saber looked up with a sudden fire in her tired eyes. "There can be no room for carelessness in my routine."

"But… but you let me sleep in… so it wouldn't have mattered if you rested more."

Saber simply turned away with a look that clearly said that Chizuru just did not understand. Chizuru simply wondered if the fatigue was getting to her roommate.

Within a few moments Chizuru was changed into her clothes and together they walked out of their room to head over to where the captain's rooms were. Saber was aware of Chizuru glancing her way every so often but pretended not to notice. She might not have slept as much as she would have liked to but there was nothing worse than sleeping in.

After a few moments Chizuru led her to a stop in front of a door. "This is Okita's room. His injuries were the worst so I wanted to check on him before anyone else." Saber nodded and they entered. Okita was laid out comfortably on his futon and seemed to be sleeping peacefully. She heard Chizuru let out a sigh of relief before sitting down at his side and pulling medical items from the bag she brought with her. Saber took a seat beside her and watched silently as she changed Okita's bandages. Just as Saber thought yesterday, his external wounds were minor. His chest was bruised from the spot where Chizuru earlier said he was kicked by the man he was fighting.

When she looked at Chizuru's face, she could not help but be surprised at the amount of concern in the girl's features. Okita had always frightened the girl with his constant threats to kill her and she made a point of avoiding him almost as much as Hijikata. Saber waited until Chizuru was done with the bandages before speaking.

"Did something happen between you and Okita?"

The medicine the girl was handling nearly flew out of her hands. "W-What is that supposed to mean?"

Saber raised her brow and continued. "If I recall correctly, Heisuke's room is closer to ours than Okita's. Also, you seem far less hesitant to come into contact with him than I expected you would be. If it is a personal matter than you do not have to tell me."

"Um, well you see…." A faint blush came to her cheeks when she realized what Saber actually meant. "At the inn, I tried to distract the man Okita was fighting to give him an opening. When I did that, the man was going to attack me instead." She bit her lip as the memories came back to her. "Okita pushed me behind himself to protect me."

"Is that so…"

When Chizuru finished tending to his wounds, she stood up with her bag slung over her shoulder. "Saber, I need to go check on Heisuke and the other men. Could you stay with Okita for a little while until I can come back?"

Saber nodded and watched the girl leave. A frown creased her face when she turned back to the man laid out before her. "How unexpected of you, Okita. It seems you are not as cruel of a man as I thought you were."

His eyelids parted open halfway to reveal two green orbs that gazed at her emotionlessly. "Just don't go spreading it around. If you do, I'll kill you."

Saber, who knew he was awake this whole time, simply held his gaze steadily. "Not until your wounds have healed, or else Chizuru might kill _you _first."

A wry smile splayed across his lips. "Was that a joke, Saber?"

She was quick to open her mouth to deny that when she realized it _was_ a joke. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and she could not even imagine where such a lax attitude would come from.

Okita let out a soft chuckle. "Why is it the only person who can embarrass you is yourself? You're a weird one, you know that?" He suddenly took a sharp, pained breath and winced.

"That does not matter," Saber said quickly. "You should focus on resting rather than talking."

He smiled slightly and shut his eyes. "Anything to take the spotlight off yourself, huh?"

Within a few minutes Okita had fallen back asleep and they remained undisturbed until Chizuru came back later on.

* * *

"Thank you for watching him, Saber. Did anything happen while I was gone?" Chizuru asked when she came in and sat back down next to Saber while looking over Okita to make sure he was okay.

"He woke up for a few minutes but otherwise nothing."

Chizuru's eyes widened. "H-He woke up? Did he say anything?"

"Nothing you would not expect to come from him," she said vaguely.

Chizuru sighed. "Well I'm just happy that he woke up at all."

Saber nodded. "How are Toudou and the others?"

"They're doing fine now," she said with a relieved smile. "Actually, Heisuke is awake right now and he wanted to see you. I can handle things here so feel free to go see him."

"I see. Thank you for telling me." Saber stood to her feet and quietly left. Before she shut the door she caught one last glimpse of Chizuru's sad eyes gazing down at Okita.

She soon found herself in front of the young captain's room that requested her presence. "Toudou, its Saber. May I enter?"

"Yeah, come on in."

Saber slid the door open to find the captain in the same position as Okita had been in with newly applied bandages on his forehead. He waved his hand to the side of his futon to indicate for her to sit there. She complied and folded her legs underneath her when she sat. Toudou looked at her for a few seconds before his lips split into their usual grin.

"You know, Saber, when you sit like that you look like a girl even with the man clothes."

Her eye twitched involuntarily. "Is _that_ the reason you wished to see me?" When she made to stand up, Toudou sputtered out a few apologies as he grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving. He nearly passed out when she shot him a cold glare that would have killed a lesser man instantly.

"No, no, sorry it just popped into my head and I had to say it. Sorry! Don't leave yet, okay?" She frowned and shook his hand off before sitting back down again. "You're too much like Hajime sometimes, you know that? You two could just go out and glare the enemies to death."

"Are you finished yet?" She fixed him in her withering gaze.

"Ack! Yeah, okay just don't look at me like that!" He touched his head and winced suddenly. "Ah man, went and got myself stressed out and that's exactly what Chizuru told me _not _to do."

Saber waited quietly while he grumbled in pain for several moments before she asked what exactly she was called here for. He suddenly looked a little embarrassed and took a sudden interest in the color of the ceiling. "Well, I just wanted to say… thanks for yesterday. I mean, don't get me wrong, I could have totally taken that guy down if you hadn't shown up."

She sighed. "You cannot sincerely mean that you let the mere _presence_ of a woman distract you?"

"Yeah, that's exactly it! I was so focused on you that I messed up!" He nodded his head in agreement and then grimaced when the cut on his head protested the movement. "But I guess you covered for me alright after I got knocked out so… yeah. Thanks."

Saber briefly wondered if he would say such things to her if he was not suffering from head trauma. Granted, most anyone in this era or her own would also blame the loss on gender distraction. "You are welcome, Toudou. Be more careful next time so that you do not sustain such severe injuries again."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. What are you, my mom?" He avoided her stern look and his brows wrinkled together for a moment in thought. He turned back to her and said, "Hey, Saber, just call me Heisuke, alright? Toudou sounds too weird."

She raised her brow in surprise and then a small, genuine smile splayed across her lips. "Thank you. I will do that…. Heisuke." She was definitely not expecting to reach first name basis with anyone here, especially so soon. Everyone else had been given permission to use that name, Chizuru included, and it was nice to be included in on that.

He suddenly found it very hard to keep his eyes on her and he turned away with a slight blush on his cheeks. "Sounds a lot better coming from you than the other idiots around here." She blinked in confusion at the strange compliment and then bowed her head for lack of anything better to do.

They both looked up at the same time when they heard two pairs of footsteps coming down the hall. They came to a stop in front of Heisuke's room and they heard a loud voice call out to the captain.

"Yo, Heisuke! We're coming in!"

"Damn it." Saber just barely heard him swear under his breath when Nagakura swung the door open and entered with Harada following not too far behind. They both grinned upon seeing Saber and Nagakura wasted no time in making a jab at his young friend.

"Ohhh what do we have here? Did we interrupt some personal time with you and Saber?"

"Shut up, Shinpachi! Don't be an idiot!" Heisuke was about to sit up in a better position to yell at the older man when Saber's slim hands suddenly pushed him back down into the futon.

"Heisuke, you must stay in bed or else your wound could reopen." She gave him her stern "mom look" as he mentally started calling it.

Harada laughed as he and Nagakura sat on the opposite side of Heisuke from Saber. He gave his bedridden friend a sly grin and said, "The lady knows best." Heisuke muttered several curses under his breath as Saber's brows raised in confusion toward his sudden mood swing. His spirits were much higher just before his friends came in, after all.

Nagakura poked him in the side through his covers and smirked. "So when did Saber start calling you Heisuke, huh? What did we miss when you two were off on your own?"

"Nothing you ass!" The only thing keeping Heisuke from tackling Nagakura to the ground was Saber's hands still placed firmly against his chest. He looked a little embarrassed by this, which made the captains only smile more.

"Harada, Nagakura, please stop riling him up with these false implications. Heisuke and I have developed a friendly bond since yesterday and nothing more."

Harada gave the young captain a pat on the arm with a mock look of sorrow on his face. "Too bad, you got shot down kid. Pretty sad too considering how romantic it looked when Saber was carrying you yesterday."

"You saw that too, Sano?" Nagakura grinned even wider. "I was about to rag on the kid myself for that."

Heisuke was about to punt them both out the door when their words hit him. His eyes shot to Saber and his jaw dropped. "You carried me? _Romantically_?" He cried out in horror.

"Yes, how else was I supposed to get you back to the others?" Saber said matter-of-factually. "As you know, the men do not know of my true gender and there was hardly anything romantic about it. Your pride remains intact." Her eyes narrowed slightly at her own words but whatever she was thinking was kept to herself.

Heisuke groaned and pulled the covers up to his nose. "I think it might be even worse that way…"

Saber raised a questioning brow and looked to Nagakura and Harada for help. They only bust out laughing even more and left the girl in the dark as to whatever the joke was. It struck Saber then that this was the most lax reception she ever had from the men of the Shinsengumi. She really had not done much at the inn but it seemed her efforts at least had brought up their opinions of her. After all the time she spent living with them it was a welcome change.

They spent a long time together talking and joking around in a similar manner. Heisuke really seemed to enjoy the company despite how much he acted out whenever they goaded him. Saber had initially tried to dismiss herself to let them carry on without her but they insisted that she stayed for some reason. Even though she had little to add to the conversation and possessed the sense of humor of a rock, they seemed to enjoy her company nonetheless. Whatever their reasons were, she enjoyed the deviation from the typical patterns her days usually followed.

* * *

As evening approached, Saber was strolling around the compound by herself for once. The summer air blowing through her golden locks of hair felt like a blessing to her in this rare moment of quiet solitude outdoors. Heisuke needed to rest more and the other two captains had some work to half ass elsewhere, as they put it, so they said their goodbyes to each other and parted ways. She had not seen Chizuru since they parted in Okita's room. Since she had not been called to assist her in any matters she assumed everything was going well. To be perfectly honest, Saber knew very little beyond the basics of first aid. Why Hijikata wanted her to help Chizuru, who was far more qualified, was beyond her.

"Ah, there you are Saber."

She was drawn out of her thoughts by a familiar voice belonging to the violet haired man who was just approaching her. "Hello Saitouu. Did you need me for something?"

"In a way, yes. You have been requested to join us in the common room for dinner."

Another unexpected surprise for the day. "Really? By whom?"

"Namely Sano and Shinpachi, and nobody had anything to say against the idea." He turned his back to her and started walking before she could say anything else. "Are you coming?"

"Even if I refuse I am certain those two would simply drag me there by force." She fell in line behind Saitouu with a sigh but Saitouu could tell by the tone of her voice that she was pleased by the invitation no matter how much she tried to hide it.

Once they arrived in the common room Saber saw that besides for Saitouu and herself, Hijikata, Kondo, Inoue, and Sannan were the only ones present. After a moment of consideration, she followed Saitouu and sat down beside him. Kondo was the only other option she would consider but that man was flanked by the two people she avoided the most in headquarters. She did not mind Saitouu at all and actually found his quiet composed disposition to be refreshing amongst all the louder, and angrier in Hijikata's case, personalities here. She took one glance at Sannan, who sent a small nod her way, which she returned with one of her own.

Not long after that, Chizuru, Harada, and Nagakura came bustling into the room with food trays balanced in their arms. Their presence marked a definite increase in sound due to Hijikiata and Kondo being the only two to talk before they entered. While the three set out the food trays for everyone, Chizuru kept sending Saber elated smiles. When she set the blonde's tray down before her, Chizuru excitedly spouted about how happy she was to see her. Saber was a little taken aback by the girl's warmth and could only awkwardly thank her in return.

Chizuru tried to sit next to Saber but was promptly dragged away by Nagakura and Harada, who claimed that since the three of them cooked dinner, they had to sit and enjoy it together. Nagakura also mentioned under his breath that sitting next to Saitouu and Saber would be boring and he did not want to expose her to that. He discovered his voice was not as quiet as he thought it was when Saber and Saitouu both fixed him in their cold stares that promised a future full of pain. The man gulped and tried his best to laugh it off.

As the meal got under way, Harada glanced to the spot next to Nagakura and let out a little sigh. "You know," he said wistfully, "it sure is a lot quieter without the brat around to steal your food. I almost miss the little guy."

"Tch, maybe that blow to the head knocked some manners into him." Nagakura called Heisuke a greedy bastard under his breath, which caused Chizuru to laugh despite the crudeness of his words. "Hijikata is way too quiet without Souji around though." He sent a grin the vice-commander's way.

Hijikata responded with his typical scowl. "It's better this way. I wish we could have quieter dinners like this more often."

"Ah come on, even Saitouu misses the guy!" He sent an expectant look to the quiet man, who said nothing in response. "See? If Souji was around Saitouu would actually say something."

"Something, as in, coming to the defense of the vice-commander." The sound of Sannan's voice caught Nagakura off guard. He fumbled a bit while Sannan simply gave him that smile that never failed to unsettle Saber. Sannan seemed to set everyone on edge. No one knew how to talk to him since his injury and his words always had some sort of bite behind them.

Kondou, who seemed oblivious to any of this, turned to Saber with a smile. "Well anyway, thanks for joining us today Saber. It is usually a lot livelier than this but we'll have to wait for the others to get better to see the usual activity." He suddenly looked troubled about something. "You can eat with us from now on too. I'm sorry about the last few months when you were by yourself…" Beside him, Hijikata muttered something about how Kondou should not be apologizing but he was ignored.

"That is a very gracious offer. If you would have me then I would be more than happy to join you all for meals." She cocked her head to the side when a thought came to her. "Why are you suddenly allowing me to join you though?"

Hijikata shrugged. "Sano over there's been bitching for weeks about how we shouldn't leave a woman closed up in her room, and Chizuru was whining right along with him." He let out a sigh. "Thanks to yesterday, Shinpachi jumped on board and started saying shit like "it's what Heisuke would want", like the kid up and dropped dead or something. I just got tired of all the noise." He glanced to the side at Kondou, indicating the man put up a lot of fuss himself but the vice-commander opted out of mentioning it. Across from Saber, the two trouble makers whispered something about him sounding like a grumpy old man. Chizuru could barely suppress her giggles.

"That… is very kind of you all. Thank you again." This was almost like Shirou making her eat with him, except he made a point of doing so on her first night with him and not forcing her to stay in her room for months.

"Just be ready for when we're all together again. Heisuke's gonna' try to steal your whole damn meal if you take your eyes off of it"

Saber narrowed her eyes at Nagakura's words and suddenly her entire posture stiffened. "I have experience with _his_ type. If he values his life then he will not make any such attempts." Her fingers tightened around the bowl of rice she was working on and a fierce flame lit in her eyes that had not even been present at the inn.

Harada took a nervous sip of his tea, and suddenly felt a little wary of letting Heisuke near this girl at meal time. "I see Saber had a "Heisuke" of her own in her life at some point."

Saber jabbed her rice with her chopsticks and suddenly looked a little irritated. Beside her, Saitouu watched the slip in her masked emotions with mild interest. "Yes, you could say that. When I came here I was staying with my friend and his guardian came over for meals. She often tried to eat everything she could simply so that I could not have my fill." The fire in her eyes intensified. "His meals… were always the best. That woman was truly a demon…" Not even Hijikata and Saitouu could completely hide their confusion at Saber's sudden anger.

"Um… Saber, we'll explain to Heisuke not to eat your food so, um… please don't make that scary face." Saber looked up at the sound of Chizuru's hesitant voice to see she had raised her hands in a calming manner. Suddenly aware of own demeanor, Saber easily shifted back to a state of calm and continued eating as if nothing happened.

For the next several minutes, the room was absent of all noise aside from the quiet noises of people eating. All eyes were trained on Saber, who pointedly ignored the attention in favor of remembering her previous meal time rival. She would have to defend herself from the young captain if they were to continue this arrangement. He would not steal a single bit of food from her. She jabbed her chopsticks into her bowl again when a certain memory of Taiga came to mind wherein Taiga devoured all of the remaining food before Saber could have her fourth serving. She _needed_ to eat Shirou's delicious food but that evil woman just had to get in the way. Saber would never think ill of Taiga in most situations, but this memory was too cruel not to bring out the worst in her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Hijikata suddenly clearing his throat. She glanced up to see that everyone, with the exception of Saitouu, was suddenly giving her very apprehensive looks. "Look, Heisuke won't bother you so stop glaring at your rice like you're going to kill it."

A tiny blush formed in her cheeks and she quickly averted her gaze. "I appreciate it."

None of them really knew what to think of her at this point. This calm, level headed girl could face death head on without batting an eye… but would probably defend her food with the rage of a lion if she had to. Perhaps Saber would not be as boring to bring to meals as they thought she would be.


	7. New Toy

_(Okay so there are a few updates aside from a new chapter. I went back and edited the previous chapters to take out certain things I no longer wanted to develop, and added in others that I could build up on later. I suggest going back and rereading chapter 1, which I rewrote most of, and then chapter 2, which I did not rewrite but did add in something that I will continue to build off of later on. As for the rest of the chapters, I touched up on them by fixing a few mistakes and adding a few details here and there. The most important change is that I removed the dream sequences. Note that if you started reading after the date of 4/28 then you don't need to reread anything as you got here after the edits were applied._

_Also I am so sorry for the delay. College has been really busy for me and I just have not had the chance to write anything. Hopefully I can upload a few more chapters before my summer semester starts up. Thank you all so much for the reviews, favs, and follows. They really encouraged me throughout all the college struggles._

_I do have a question for you readers out there. Out of curiosity, who would you like to see Saber wind up with? I think already know what I'm going to do but I still want to hear from you guys. Might give me future inspiration lol.)_

* * *

Chapter 7

When that old mother Hijikata finally let him get out of bed Okita had been thrilled. His loss at the Ikedaya was still fresh in his mind and he'd already been fantasizing all the different ways he could take his sweet, bloody revenge on that red eyed guy. Of course, as if the old mother knew just what Okita was thinking, Hijikata barged in at the worst possible moment when Okita happened to be having a particularly nasty coughing fit. That started up a long, dull argument about how Okita was still unfit to fight and had to keep taking it easy until he was completely recovered.

After having enough of Okita's chidings Hijikata stormed out with one last absolute "no fighting" command which left the captain of the first division full of nothing but disappointment over all his planning and vivid imaginings going to waste. It soured his mood and for the most part he spent his time wandering the compound and bothering anyone he happened to come across to feel better. Heisuke was his favorite target for a few days because the kid was stuck in bed for a few days after Okita was released and if he tried to fight back then Chizuru, who was usually around as well, always gave him a good scolding for risking opening his wound back up. Personally, Okita thought she was being a mother hen. She and Hijikata made the perfect team. His mouth quirked up into a smile upon that thought and filed it away for further use against the two. He did so enjoy teasing the both of them especially.

"Okita, I suggest you stop staring into space while there is work to be done."

Ah yes, and there was his other favorite subject of torment. He happily turned to Saber who was standing in front of a table of ingredients with her hands on her hips and her all business expression in place. It was almost a hobby of his to try to break her stoicism and icey glares. This time, Okita knew he had her. Why was that? Well, it just so happened that Okita and Saber were on cooking duty together.

It was a wonderful turn of events, really. Saber offered to help out in return for the Shinsengumi's hospitality- which Okita was still not sure she should be on the receiving end of- so Hijikata tossed her into the first open job that he could think of, which in this case, was cooking dinner. The vice-commander had been so tied up with whatever matters needed his attention that he failed to remember that he had also dumped Okita onto today's dinner preparation.

So here they stood, the fearsome captain of the first division and the mysterious noble from England, staring down at the vegetables that would not cut themselves. That "from England_"_ detail was not just thrown in there for filler, oh no. Okita planned on having a _lot _of fun with this.

"So, Saber, what are your brilliant plans for dinner today?" Saber continued to stare intently at the vegetables as though ordering them to answer him for her. "I was thinking some sort of soup?" She quickly nodded in agreement but he shook his head after a moment. "No, we've had that enough already. Nevermind." He stroked his chin in a serious manner. "I think we've had enough rice dishes over the past few days as well so maybe we should try something new."

Confusion lit in Saber's eyes. "But we've been having rice every day-"

He cut her off as though he hadn't even heard her. "Saber you really need to give some ideas here or else dinner time's going to come around and we'll still be here."

"A-Ah yes, of course." She gingerly picked up two vegetables in front of her as if expecting them to explode in her hands. "These look like excellent options for us to use instead of rice." She looked completely lost and it was hilarious.

Okita let out a disappointed sigh and dramatically placed a hand over his forehead. "Saber, have you learned nothing from staying with us for so many months? You're supposed to eat rice with _every _meal." With a somber shake of his head he gazed out the window with a distant look. "I had so much hope for you, too."

Her hands tightened around the poor vegetables so tightly Okita swore they might burst. "But you just said we should try something new."

Okita looked back at her with a look of innocent confusion. "What? I never said that. I think you need to clean your ears out." If there was one thing Okita learned from hanging around Saitou, it was how to get under the skin of the "emotionless" quiet types. Saber and he were so alike it was just all too easy to crack her shell. His reward for harassing Saber was even more enjoyable in some ways than teasing the other captain. The girl's face lit up bright red, both from embarrassment and anger that she was clearly having a hard time keeping under control. She dropped what she was holding back onto the table and simply stood there, glaring at him, with her fists tight. If she were anyone else, he knew he'd have been smacked already.

Okita smiled cheerfully at her in response and came around to her side of the table. "What's the matter, Saber? You look a little sick. I hope it's not contagious," he said with a tone of mock concern.

Saber, who might have been imagining her hands around his neck in that moment, kept her eyes trained on a cucumber on the far end of the table. "No, I am fine. Please, let us continue with preparations before we run out of time," she muttered through barred teeth.

They stood together in silence for a few moments before Okita spoke. "Well, go ahead. No one's stopping you." No response. "Are you _sure_ you're okay?"

She intensified her glare on the poor cucumber. "I think it would be best if you started."

"Hmm? Why's that?" He met with the silent reply again. "Could it be that Saber doesn't know how to cook?"

"That's not true," she snapped back at him. She took a moment to compose herself and lowered her voice back to an indoor level. "I am simply," she fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt before continuing, "unfamiliar with Japanese style meal preparation is all."

"So you really don't know how to cook then? My my, how embarrassing that is! Looks like there are some things even the mighty Saber can't do."

"That is not true. I can cook western style meals just fine."

"Oh, like what?"

She gave him a sideways glance and fiddled with the hem of her sleeve again. "… Well, I have not had the need to cook for myself for many years. I _can_ cook but-"

"-but you remember almost nothing and will probably burn the kitchen down." He hit the mark. She ground her teeth together and said nothing in response, indicating that he wasn't far from the truth at all. "Well, never fear Saber. I'll save you just this once but you better pay attention because next time it'll be on you to get it right."

Saber nodded once and broke her stare down with the cucumber to face him. Her earlier calm was back in place -ready for him to break again, he thought in amusement- and she addressed him as though they were in battle rather than in a kitchen. "I am not completely worthless like you make me out to be. Tell me what I can do and I will see to it that my task is completed efficiently."

He waved his hand dismissively and started pulling vegetables toward her before handing her a knife. "Yeah yeah, don't get all serious on me. Cut these up and let me know when you're done. I'll get to work on the rice."

She nodded and got to work right away. "May I ask what we are making?"

He smiled pleasantly back at her. "Miso soup, of course!"

"But you said-"

"Hmm, I don't remember saying anything."

Saber choked with frustration and nearly lopped her fingers off by accident.

* * *

"What took you two so long anyway? Heisuke was about to wither away here!" Nagakura elbowed the young captain in the side before grinning down at the meal set in front of him.

"Saber wanted to make sure her first meal for us was perfect, of course." Okita, who was sitting across from them in the common room, smiled as the captains all inspected their food with interest. Saber was seated beside him this time and she simply nodded sagely in agreement before taking a sip of her tea.

At the front of the room Hijikata looked over his miso soup with mild interest before glancing over at Okita. "Looks a lot like how you make it, Souji." He tasted it and after letting it sit on his tongue for a moment he quirked his brow up. "Tastes like it too."

"Like I said, she wanted to make sure it was perfect."

Hijikata glanced from Okita to Saber, neither of whose faces betrayed anything. "Well," he shrugged indifferently, "as long as it's edible I won't complain." And that was that. Next to him, Kondou gave the first division captain a knowing look but kept his thoughts to himself.

Okita gave Saber a sidelong glance and lowered his voice so only she could hear. "You owe me, blondie."

Saber stiffened at the thought of owing a man like Okita anything. Her eyelid twitched slightly as she returned his gaze and all she could do was nod and whisper back a lame "of course".

The idiot trio -the name Saber learned Harada, Nagakura, and Heisuke had earned for themselves- were unaware of either of those exchanges. Instead, they were having a little argument of their own about who could cook better between the two girls present. Chizuru sat with them as well but stayed out of the argument for the most part. She simply took the opinion that she enjoyed everyone's cooking the same and hers was nothing special. Heisuke seemed to be having some internal struggle of his own when it came to choosing and wound up picking both sides of the argument by accident.

That left Harada and Nagakura, both of whom had interesting reasons for their stances. Harada claimed that Chizuru's femininity and gentle nature made her meals superior in the end because they were made with love and tenderness. At least, that's what Saber picked up on from his rantings. He sounded like he was being overly romantic about something as simple as a meal.

Nagakura, on the other hand, claimed that Saber's meal won because of her multicultural knowledge and battlefield instincts. The combination made for a powerful flavor that could beat "love" anyday. That made about as much sense as some of Merlin's farfetched excuses for his pranks but she liked that Nagakura wasn't basically calling her the perfect housewife like the opposition was doing for Chizuru.

"This is unexpected," Saber mumbled as she watched them. "Do you suppose they will ever figure it out, Okita?"

Together they watched the trio go at it with each other while Chizuru every so often nudged one of the trays out of the way before their typical physical form of arguing got dinner all over the floor.

"Don't expect too much out of them," he said after a moment with a chuckle. "But next time I expect you to add double the love, or else I'm kicking you off cooking duty. I won't allow us to lose to Chizuru." He grinned when Saber huffed in annoyance and then started on his own meal.

While they ate and watched the three idiots Saber couldn't help but send a pondering glance at Okita every so often. The man confused her. His jokes were down right cruel and sadistic at times, yet he still managed to come off as good hearted and friendly at moments like these. Certainly first impressions were often proven wrong, but what about second and third impressions? Every time she thought she understood him, his personality shifted subtly enough to make her start back from square one. Her eyes drifted over to the higher ranking men at the front and she wondered if he was simply putting up with her for their sake.

His playful tone suddenly shook her out of her thoughts. "See something you like?"

"No."

"Ouch." He slapped a hand over his heart in mock hurt. "Really though, what are you so lost in thought about?"

"Why does it matter?"

"I'm only curious. No need to get hostile," he said as his lips formed into a tiny pout.

Saber returned his pout with her typical cool gaze and was about ready to start ignoring him. It struck her that since it was _Okita_ he would try his hardest to make sure all her attention was drawn to him. What an irritating man. "If you really must know, I was thinking about you."

"Oh?" He smirked at her honesty though he seemed a little put out that he couldn't use his own methods to draw the truth out. "And what exactly were your thoughts?"

Saber shrugged indifferently. "I was just thinking that you are one of the strangest men I have ever met."

"Ah, my efforts have paid off. I'll take that as a compliment," he laughed.

She raised her brow. "I certainly did not mean it as one." Her remark seemed to bounce off of him without any effect.

"It is useless to tell him that, Saber. Souji can be quite persistent."

Saber glanced at Saitou, who was seated on the other side of Okita. "Yes, I can see that all too well, unfortunately."

"I believe he has made you his latest toy. I wish you luck." With that, Saitou picked his tray up and left without another word.

Saber watched him go before giving Okita a serious look. "You could learn a lesson or two from him."

"Oh, about what?"

"Silence and respect, for starters."

Okita smirked. "Don't be so mean to me after everything I've done for you today."

She sighed. This was exactly what she was afraid would happen. Okita will hold today over her head until she died.

* * *

Night fellover the compound and most of the residents turned in for the night, Chizuru being one of them. Saber watched the young girl across the room before turning her eyes back to gaze out the window. It had become customary for her to do this almost every night, but recently her thoughts were slowly shifting in mood. At first she did nothing but reminisce on the past and condemn herself for all of her failures in life. She wasn't sure when that started to change, but recently her thoughts were not so dark. In fact, she was starting to think about more ordinary things, such as what the weather would be like tomorrow, or what secrets were the Shinsengumi hiding from her this time.

Well, that last one was not very _ordinary. _Still,it was a change nonetheless. It wasn't that the pain and sorrow from her past was disappearing, but rather that she was starting to live with it. Maybe it was simply because she was accepting that this time she truly had no options to undo what happened all that time ago.

Actually, when did she start thinking so hard about her _feelings_ in the first place? Wasn't this the sort of thing that she put a stop to all those years ago? She idly crossed her arms over her stomach as she gazed up at the distant moon. Perhaps those Shinsengumi men were to blame for this shift in character. In all her life she never met anyone like them and she had to admit she was enjoying her time with them. How long would things stay like this though? Surely they wouldn't let her stay with them forever. If they killed her then that would be the end of it, but if they let her go then she would have to start a new life in a land where she could not even make her own meals. Certainly she was not unskilled outside of combat, but she never lived a normal life like the people here.

A sigh escaped her lips when she realized that her streak of nondepressing thoughts had ended. She was getting too far ahead of herself. For now, she was the Shinsengumi's captive and that was how she would stay for now. If the time came when she was released then she would simply do what she had to in order to survive.

Nodding to herself, she pushed away from the window and headed over to the wardrobe to change into her sleeping yukata when suddenly something strange happened. Her head whipped around back to the window as a familiar sensation sparked in the back of her head.

Someone, or something, had entered the compound and they didn't use conventional methods to get inside. Whoever, or whatever they were, they used magic to do it.

Without even thinking about it she was already outside and quietly padding down the wooden walkway as fast as she could while making as little noise as possible. Whatever was the source of what she sensed was giving off very low levels of mana. Saber could barely sense it as it was and if she had been asleep then she surely would have missed it.

Further and further she went through the dark headquarters in search of this presence. Soon it was apparent that she was heading into an area she generally avoided due to it being off limits to anyone below the rank of captain. If she even glanced in the direction of that place then she was shooed away in an instant.

Her sinking suspicions were confirmed when she found herself standing in the grass just outside the Maekawa house. That house was the one that under no circumstances were any unauthorized persons allowed nearby, and yet here she was because that presence she felt was _inside_ at that moment. It would be unfortunate if she were caught here because she already had her suspicions about what was kept inside of this house.

The Shinsengumi had warned her since day one to forget about those silver haired monsters but that was not a memory easily erased. The clues she had picked up from listening in on conversations, and the fact that those things were wearing Shinsengumi uniforms was all very telling that the silver haired creatures were very tightly entwined with Shinsengumi affairs. The fact that this was the one place that Saber had been specifically told not to go led her to assume that this was probably where those things were kept since she had yet to run into them again.

Knowing all of this made this situation all the riskier. At the same time, however, this was the first hint of magical energy Saber had felt in this era. A magus could do wonders of help for her own magic circuit situation. Of course, the problem remained that this person was snooping around a building that probably housed monstrous, blood thirsty killers so they might not be the most reputable of people. She half considered getting one of the captains to help but if it was a magus then she doubted that a normal human would be able to do much. The men here were formidable but they had no knowledge of magic, after all.

With her mind made up, she stepped forward without another second of hesitation. However, her resolve to investigate was dampened upon finding the door to the Maekawa house was locked. She suspected as much already but it didn't hurt to hope. The windows were boarded up as well, making this a very foolish attempt on her part to glean any sort of information. Inside, she could faintly sense the presence moving about but not a sound was coming from within the house.

After a moment, it suddenly shifted to the back of the house. On instinct, Saber went that direction as well and hid at the side of the house while keeping a close watch on the rear. Her instinct proved correct when a dark shadow emerged _through_ the wall. It was too dark to discern any details about it. She couldn't even tell if it was human or not despite the small amount of distance between them. The figure didn't stop moving for a second and walked to the back wall that separated the Shinsengumi compound from the rest of Kyoto. As Saber thought it would, it simply glided right through the wall as if it weren't even there.

She approached the spot the figure just left through and laid her hand on it. It was cool to the touch and didn't stand out from the rest of the wall at all. The being that had just passed through seconds ago was already gone from her mind as if it did not exist beyond the compound border. There would be no sense in raising suspicion by sneaking out to find something that had no way of finding again. Her best bet would be to bide her time and wait for something to happen again.

She backed away from the wall and allowed her gaze to lift up to the moon once again. She knew very little about what was going on but there was still this cold, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. It felt like this person, whoever they were, meant nothing good for her future. Only catching one glimpse of them was enough to give her that feeling.

She slipped away back to her room and was thankful not to meet anyone along the way. The last thing she needed was to have to explain herself to the Shinsengumi after all the effort she put into earning their trust lately.

Should she tell them about the intruder? If it was a magus then they wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it. At the same time, that house possibly guarded the darkest secret in the city and if she simply did nothing or tried to handle things herself and failed then there would be no one to blame but herself.

"Saber, is everything okay?"

She stiffened and glanced at Chizuru, who was rubbing her eyes and sitting up in her futon. Saber must have woken her up when she slid the door shut a second ago.

"Y-Yes, I am fine. I just needed to take a walk is all."

Chizuru nodded sleepily before plunking her head back down on the pillow and quickly falling back to sleep. Saber let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and after a moment, returned to her usual spot at the window. It was going to be a long, sleepless night for her.

* * *

Unfortunately for Saber, there was one other person who happened to be walking the grounds that night. Hajime Saitou, whose days were often the busiest of all the captains, often took strolls at night where he could enjoy some peace and quiet without the other captains' constant background noise intruding on his senses.

It was thanks to his nightly strolling that he happened to see Saber sneaking around the compound. He followed her all the way to the Maekawa house and silently watched her from a distance. If she were one of the common soldiers then he would have dragged her off the Hijikata immediately for punishment. If she were Chizuru, he would have chalked this incident up as foolish curiosity and still dragged her off to Hijikata. His first instinct was still to drag Saber off to the vice-commander but Saber was a mystery to all of them and might finally be making her move if she truly did have hidden intentions for being in Kyoto.

Besides, something about this seemed off, especially when she seemed to be more worried about something within the house noticing her presence rather than someone like him catching her unaware from behind. He watched her shift around the side of the house and his eyes narrowed upon seeing her posture suddenly freeze. She stood stock still for a moment before finally shoving off the wall and hurrying behind the house and out of sight. His lips turned down into a frown and he was about to change positions when the girl suddenly came back into sight only a few seconds later. He'd never seen her look so troubled before.

Could it be that one of _them_ escaped? It would certainly explain Saber's behavior, but it didn't match up with the situation. Saber would have been attacked for sure, and even then that wouldn't explain why she suddenly came out here to begin with.

Saitou wanted to follow Saber to make sure she returned to her room but he had to investigate the Maekawa house. He waited until she was down the hall out of sight before he left his hiding spot and hurried to building.

* * *

"And nothing was out of place?"

Saitou shook his head. "It was all exactly as Sannan left it this morning. As for what she saw exactly, I was unable to see it from my location. I apologize for not knowing more."

"No, it's fine. Thank you for coming to me right away with this," Hijikata said with a tired smile. He had been up late working and was about to go to bed when Saitou showed up with news about Saber.

"What should we do about Saber?"

"Keep an eye on her. I want to know her motives before we make a move." Saitou nodded once and Hijikata dismissed him to leave. Just as the third division captain was about to slide the door shut behind him Hijikata issued one final order in a low voice. "Saitou, keep this between us."

"Of course." With that, he was gone. Most likely he would keep watch over Saber's room the rest of the night to make sure she didn't go wandering off again.

It'd been a few months since Saber arrived here and after so much time of inactivity he was beginning to wonder if she would ever act out. Here was his answer. If she had done this from the beginning he would have dragged her off and had her interrogated right away but after getting to know her as much as he did Hijikata knew that this was completely out of character. Saber didn't do anything without a reason and if she had resolved to stay away from the Maekawa house like they'd asked then there was no reason for her to suddenly change her mind for no reason. There was something at work here that only Saber was aware of, and it was too closely related to the Shinsengumi's inner affairs for him to act too hastily. It was best to observe her for now. They could take her out any time they needed to.

His mind was too active for rest now. Furrowing his brow, Hijikata resigned himself back to the pile of paper work that never seemed to get smaller.


End file.
